Post on 10-Oct-2020
This book is an outcome of the extensive research work carried
out by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute
(ICAR-CMFRI) in the last five decades and the project on sea
cucumbers implemented by the ICAR-CMFRI with financial
support from the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem
(BOBLME) project in 2015. It is aimed to propose guidelines and
principles for effective conservation measures ensuring the long-
term sustainability of sea cucumber resources in this region.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in Indiasuggestions and way forward
Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchCentral Marine Fisheries Research InstitutePost Box No.1603, Ernakulam North P.O., Kochi-682 018, Kerala, India.Phone: +91 484 2394357, 2394867 Fax: +91 484 2394909E-mail: contact@cmfri.org.in www.cmfri.org.in
Co
nse
rva
tio
n a
nd
su
sta
ina
ble
use
of
sea
cu
cum
be
r re
sou
rce
s in
In
dia
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in Indiasuggestions and way forward
ISSN 2394-8019CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchCentral Marine Fisheries Research Institute
Asha P. S, K. Vinod, L. Ranjith, B. Johnson and E. Vivekanandan
Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchCentral Marine Fisheries Research Institute
Post Box No. 1603, Ernakulam North P.O., Kochi-682 018, Kerala, India
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7 ISSN 2394-8019
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in Indiasuggestions and way forward
Asha P. S, K. Vinod, L. Ranjith, B. Johnson and E. Vivekanandan
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India: suggestions and way forward
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7March 2017.
Published byDr. A. GopalakrishnanDirector, ICAR-CMFRI
AuthorsAsha P. S, K. Vinod, L. Ranjith, B. Johnson and E. Vivekanandan
DesignGraficreations, Kochi
Printed at Print Express, Ernakulam
Production & Co-ordinationLibrary and Documentation Centre
Central Marine Fisheries Research InstitutePost Box No. 1603, Ernakulam North P.O.,Kochi-682 018. Phone: +91 484 2394357, 2394867 Fax: +91 484 2394909E-mail : contact@cmfri.org.inwww.cmfri.org.in
ISSN 2394-8019© CMFRI 2017 All rights reserved. Material contained in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the publisher
Citation: Asha P.S., Vinod K., Ranjith L.,Johnson B., and Vivekanandan E. 2017. Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India: suggestions and way forward. CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, India pp. 80.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
5
Sea cucumbers are prime seafood resources, harvested throughout the world for the preparation of a dried product ‘beche-de-mer’, besides other health products. However, in recent years, the wild population of sea cucumbers is on the decline due to the increasing market demand and the consequent over-harvest of resources. The global scenario of stock decline was witnessed in Indian waters too in the early 1980s, and as a regulatory measure, the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF & CC), Government of India implemented a size regulation on the export of ‘beche-
de-mer’ in 1982. As this regulation was not very effective, the Government imposed a blanket ban in the year 2001, and listed all species of holothurians under the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby putting an end to the sea cucumber fishery and trade from the country. In India, the fishery of sea cucumbers was restricted mainly to the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, along the south-east coast and the moratorium imposed by the Government affected scores of coastal communities whose livelihood was dependent on the collection, processing and trade of sea cucumbers.
This special publication is an outcome of several studies conducted on sea cucumbers by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), during the last five decades. The publication presents an overview of the species diversity, habitat, biological characteristics, fishery and trade of sea cucumbers in the Indian context. The resource status of sea cucumbers, based on the recent studies conducted by the ICAR-CMFRI under the FAO-BOBLME Project is also highlighted in the present document.
The publication is focused on bringing out various management measures, based on scientific principles, for conservation and sustainable management of sea cucumber resources. The recommendations outlined in the document were the outcome of various workshops and consultation meets held with all the concerned stakeholders, to ensure the long-term sustainability of sea cucumber resources in Indian waters. I sincerely hope that this special publication will be useful to scientists as well as natural resource managers, and serve as a road map in their on-going efforts to manage and conserve the Indian sea cucumber resources.
Foreword
A. GOPALAKRISHNANDirector, ICAR-CMFRI
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
6
Contents
Executive summary ...............................................................................................7
Chapter-1: Fishery of sea cucumbers ..........................................................9
Background .........................................................................................................9
Significance of sea cucumbers ............................................................................15
Distribution, species diversity, habitat and biological characteristics .....................18
Fishery and resource status .................................................................................25
Chapter-2: Vulnerability, trade and socio-economic relevance ................29
Vulnerability and overexploitation of sea cucumbers in the global context ...........29
Trade .................................................................................................................31
Effect of fishing ban on the livelihood of fishers ..................................................34
Chapter-3: Guidelines for conservation and sustainable use ...................36
Suggested regulatory measures ..........................................................................38
Potential for restocking ......................................................................................43
Implementation of management measures .........................................................52
Model for sea cucumber fishery management ....................................................54
References ......................................................................................................57
CMFRI Publications on sea cucumbers ................................................................67
Appendix -1 .......................................................................................................68
Appendix -2 .......................................................................................................70
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................76
List of tables.......................................................................................................77
List of figures .....................................................................................................77
Acronyms...........................................................................................................78
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
7
The ever-growing demand for sea cucumber in the export trade, consequent over-exploitation and inadequate management measures have resulted in depletion of stock in many parts of the world. An overarching goal in the management of sea cucumber fisheries should be to safeguard the reproductive capacity of breeding stocks so that the resources are available to future generations. This document is an outcome of the extensive research work carried out by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CMFRI) in the last five decades and the project on sea cucumbers implemented by the ICAR-CMFRI with financial support from the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) project in 2015.
In India, sea cucumbers are distributed mainly in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, Lakshadweep Islands, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Gulf of Kachchh, besides some places along the mainland coasts. However, the fishery and trade existed mainly in the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay, providing livelihoods to scores of poor fishermen inhabiting the region. Of the 39 species reported from the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, the fishing was mainly centred around two commercially valuable species viz., Holothuria scabra and H. spinifera, and occasionally on four to five additional species based on their availability and market demand. The indiscriminate exploitation led to decline in wild population and as a regulatory measure, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India implemented a size regulation on the export of ‘beche-de-mer’ in 1982, restricting the export of size below 75 mm length. As the regulation was not effective, the Government imposed a blanket ban in 2001 by listing all species of holothurians under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which is under implementation since 2003.
The ICAR-CMFRI has conducted extensive studies on sea cucumbers since 1962 and was also successful in captive breeding and seed production of two commercially important species viz., H. scabra and H. spinifera. During the twelve years of fishing
Executive summary
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
8
ban, sea cucumber stock status survey conducted by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and by ICAR-CMFRI indicated wide fluctuation in population status of nine holothurian species in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, which warrants the need for conducting periodic stock assessment studies.
Despite the national moratorium, illegal fishery and trade continues, making the moratorium ineffective. Fishermen complain loss of livelihood and are vehement in their voices to lift the ban. A controlled regulatory mechanism of collection and trade of sea cucumbers involving all concerned stakeholders might be a preferred policy solution, as this would help in conservation as well as sustainable use of these resources. The potential management measures would encompass catch quota and licensing, minimum legal size, seasonal closures, rotational fishing, no take zones, gear limitation, species protection, habitat protection, trade management and restocking through hatchery seed production and aquaculture. Implementation of various regulatory measures is a challenge, but holds the key for sustaining the sea cucumber fisheries as well as livelihood of the communities.
Participation of all stakeholders holds the key for success in any management plan. Effective management of sea cucumber fishery could be achieved by following an ecosystem approach, in which multiple regulatory measures and management actions could be agreed upon and applied in a participatory manner in consideration of the sea cucumber stocks, the ecosystems in which they live and the socio-economic systems that drive exploitation. The role of communities is an important factor for conservation and the communities should have access to the resources and at the same time should take the responsibility to conserve and sustainably use it.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
9
Fishery of sea cucumbersChapter-1
BackgroundSea cucumbers are commercially important echinoderms, forming significant sources of global seafood catches and integral parts of coastal livelihoods and employment for more than three million fishers globally (Purcell et al., 2013). They are harvested throughout the world predominantly for the raw body wall, viscera, or to produce a dried product known as ‘beche-de-mer ’ or ‘trepang ‘, and other health products which are exported to eastern Asian markets (Conand, 1990; Akamine, 2004; Ferdouse, 2004). The Indo-Pacific region is engaged in sea cucumber trade for over one thousand years, primarily for Chinese consumers (Conand and Byrne, 1993).
Throughout the world, 66 species of sea cucumbers are commonly exploited (Purcell, 2010) with the highest number (47) from Philippines (Labe, 2009). At least 70 countries are engaged in sea cucumber fishing and trade (Toral-Granda et al., 2008). Majority (66%) of sea cucumber fisheries involves small-scale fishing operations which are common in shallow habitats of tropical waters (Berkes et al., 2001). The participation of export fisheries, in terms of number of fishers/km2 of reef, was highest in Philippines (37.4) followed by Papua New Guinea (18.1; presently under moratorium) and Indonesia (15.9). In the Indian Ocean and African fisheries, it averaged 1.7 fishers/km2 (Purcell et al., 2013).
Soaring market demand, lack of alternative income streams for fishers, ineffective management measures and inherent ecological and biological vulnerability of sea cucumbers has led to over-exploitation of the resource. Studies indicated an alarmingly high incidence of over-exploitation and depletion of sea cucumber stocks, particularly in the Indo-Pacific areas. Overall, 20 per cent of fisheries has been depleted, 38 per cent over-exploited, 14 per cent fully exploited and 27 per cent underexploited or moderately exploited. About 27% are operating illegally, despite national moratoria. These illegal fisheries (official moratorium but clandestine fishing) occur in Central and South America and the Western Indian Ocean (Purcell et al., 2013). Isostichopus fuscus (brown sea cucumber), is the only sea cucumber species from Ecuador, currently listed in CITES (Appendix III) (Toral-Granda et al., 2008). Of the 377 sea cucumber species
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
10
examined, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List has classified seven species as Endangered or at high risk of extinction and nine species as Vulnerable or at risk of extinction (www.iucnredlist.org).
Globally, sea cucumber fisheries have often lacked comprehensive management plans and enforcement capacity to deal with intense exploitation rates (Evans et al., 2011; Purcell et al., 2013) which is more evident across the Indo-Pacific region. In the Indian Ocean, national sea cucumber fisheries have been in existence in different countries for many decades (Conand, 1990) but the institutional capacity for management is weak (FAO, 2012; Eriksson et al., 2015). An overarching goal in the management of sea cucumber fisheries should be to safeguard the reproductive capacity of breeding stocks so that the resources are available to future generations (FAO, 1995; Friedman et al., 2008; Purcell, 2010). Enforcement (and compliance) capacity varied greatly among fisheries and tended to be weak in tropical fisheries in low-income countries. It is found that the depleted and over-exploited fisheries tended to have far fewer regulatory measures (mean: 2.6) than better-performing fisheries (mean: 4.7) (Purcell et al., 2013) and it is emphasised to have multiple management measures which are easily understood and enforced (FAO, 2010; Purcell, 2010). However, the global sea cucumber production has not fallen because there are still available supplies, aquaculture production, limited public conservation awareness and insufficient regulatory environment (Eriksson and Clark, 2015). It is postulated that resilience in sea cucumber fisheries will be possible if fishers are part of the management system and can adapt quickly to changes in the resource (Lebel et al., 2006; Andrew et al., 2007).
In India, sea cucumbers are distributed mainly in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, Lakshadweep Islands, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the Gulf of Katchchh and as well as along some other parts of the mainland coast of India in small numbers. However, the fishery and the ‘beche-de-mer ’ production existed in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. The fishery was around a millennium years old and was introduced by the Chinese, which provided livelihood to thousands of poor fisher folks in this region (Hornell, 1917). The sea cucumber fishery was artisanal in nature and consisted of fishermen, who were divers, the processors who act as middlemen and the exporters.
Of the 39 sea cucumber species reported from the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay (Sastry, 1998), the ‘beche-de-mer ’ production was mainly centred around two species viz., Holothuria scabra and H. spinifera and occasionally on 4 to 5 additional species based on their availability. The fishery showed a boom and bust in the 1970s and 1980s. Among the commercial sea cucumbers, certain species viz., Actinopyga echinites, A. miliaris and Stichopus chloronotus totally disappeared from the fishery
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
11over the years. Like in many other Indo-Pacific countries, indiscriminate exploitation and insufficient management measures have caused over exploitation of sea cucumber resources in the Indian waters, as evidenced from the decrease in export, decreased size of the specimen fished and absence of certain species from the fishery.
As a regulatory measure, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India implemented a size regulation on export of ‘beche-de-mer ’ in 1982 (ban on ‘beche-de-mer ’ below 75 mm length). The legislation was not successful as the fishery was scattered and not organized and hence there was difficulty in monitoring and enforcement. The fishery continued until the Ministry imposed a blanket ban in 2001 on the fishery and trade from Indian waters by listing all holothurians under schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 which was implemented strictly since 2003. Despite the national moratorium, illegal fishery and clandestine trade were going on, making the moratorium ineffective. The affected fishermen and traders made repeated representations to the government to lift the ban, citing negative impact of the ban on their livelihood. The ministry entrusted the Zoological Survey of India, to evaluate the impact of the ban and recovery status of sea cucumber stock in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay during 2006 and 2011. The study indicated poor recovery and less improvement of the sea cucumber stock, after implementation of the ban (Venkitaraman, 2006; Venkataraman et al., 2012).
A catch of Holothuria scabra
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
12
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has made immense contribution on various aspects of conservation of Indian sea cucumbers through different projects since 1962. The institute has carried out research on systematics, zoogeography, parasites, animal association, bio-toxicity, biology, ecology and captive breeding and farming of sea cucumbers (James,1967, 1968, 1978, 1982, 1988b, 1995a, 1995b, 1996; James et al., 1988, 1994, 1996, 1999 and Rao et al., 1991). The institute pioneered the production of seedling of Holothuria scabra, one of the high valued species in 1988 as a primary effort towards conservation of the fragile resource (James et al.,1988; 1994) and convened the first national workshop on ‘beche-de-mer ’ in 1989 and a training programme in 1992 for the fishermen on the improved method of handling and processing of sea cucumber for export. The institute trained a scientist from Marine Science and Resource Research Centre, Aden on resources, processing, hatchery and culture of sea cucumbers in 1992. CMFRI also supported four doctoral research projects on various aspects of sea cucumbers (Baskar, 1993; Kandan, 1994; Ram Mohan, 2001; Asha,2005). In 2001, the institute gained success in the seed production of another, commercially important and over-exploited sea cucumber species, H. spinifera for the first time (Asha and Muthiah, 2002, 2005). The institute has published more than 250 research papers, 4 special publications and several brochures on sea cucumbers.
During the ban period, the institute has taken several steps for solving the issues raised due to the ban on the livelihood of fishermen, and has suggested formulation of effective and renewed management measures for conservation of sea cucumbers.
Stakeholders workshops held at Mandapam and Tuticorin CMFRI (Source: BOBLME, 2015)
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
13
The workshop convened by the ICAR-CMFRI on conservation of sea cucumbers at ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), Chennai in August 2008 stressed the supportive measures to be taken for the revival of sea cucumber populations to their pre-depleted level. In view of the issues related to over-exploitation of resources, livelihood and ineffective management measures, a series of stakeholder meetings were conducted with the active participation of fishermen, traders, village leaders, officials of fisheries and forest departments, scientists and academicians. A significant consultation meet was held at Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI in 2014 to debate on the issues associated with conservation and sustainable management of sea cucumbers in the Gulf of Mannar.
Through the BOBLME/FAO supported project, “An evaluation of the current conservation measures on sea cucumber stocks in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar of India” the institute conducted studies on the status of sea cucumber population and also interviewed fishermen and stake holders to obtain their insights into conservation and to understand the impact of moratorium on their socioeconomic and livelihood status. The resource surveys and interview surveys indicated that the status of sea cucumber population in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay could be improved by obtaining the consent of the fishermen to follow regulatory measures with participatory co-management (BOBLME, 2015). The present document is an outcome of all the initiatives taken by the ICAR-CMFRI and is aimed to propose guidelines and principles for effective conservation measures ensuring long-term sustainability of sea cucumber resources in this region.
Interviewing the fishermen (Source: BOBLME, 2015)
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
14
Objectives
• Evaluate the status of sea cucumber fishery, trade and the socioeconomiccondition of fisher folk in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay.
• Appraisetheeffectivenessofcurrentmanagementmeasures.• Recognizetheknowledgegapsingeneratingeffectivemanagementmeasures.• Proposeguidelinesforconservationandsustainableuseofholothurians.
Challenges for recommending regulatory measures
• Absenceofpre-banstockassessmentdataforcomparisonstoassessthecurrentstock status.
• Inadequatebiologicaldatatoevaluatevulnerabilityandresilienceofmajorsea-cucumber species.
• Knowledgegapsonseacucumberhabitatstatusandassociatedfauna.• Recommending conservationmeasures exclusively for sea cucumber species in
the multi species fishery.• Recommendingregulatorymeasuresforspeciesindifferentstatusofexploitation.• Lackofinformationonclandestineandtrans-boundarytrade.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
15
Significance of sea cucumbers
Nutritional Importance
Holothurians are economically important for their nutritional and medicinal properties. Many species are also harvested in small quantities for aquarium display. They are exploited for their dried end product or raw body wall or viscera, but mostly for the processed product called ‘beche-de-mer,’ in French, ‘iriko’ in Japanese, ‘haisom’ in Chinese and ‘trepang ’ in Indonesian. The Chinese are the traditional consumers and the Japanese, Koreans, Melanesians, Micronesians, Polynesians and Africans also consume ‘beche-de-mer ’ in significant ways and quantities (Morgan and Archer, 1999). The Chinese consume sea cucumbers more as a tonic than as sea food. Commercially, the product ‘beche-de-mer ’ can be graded into low, medium or high economic value depending upon the species, appearance, abundance, colour,
‘Beche-de-mer’ of Holothuria scabra
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
16
odour, thickness of body wall, and market trends and demands. Different species also have different tastes and textures, and certain species are used for preparation of specific dishes. The sea cucumber is consumed in a variety of ways. In Japan and Korea, the gutted body wall of sea cucumber is consumed raw or pickled, and specialized range of products are consumed from the gonad, respiratory trees and viscera (Mottet, 1976; Conand and Sloan, 1989). ‘Konowata’, the fermented or pickled guts or intestine and ‘Kuchiko’, the prepared and dried sea cucumber gonad are considered delicacies. In the USA, the body wall is consumed in tablet form (Mottet, 1976).
From nutritional point of view, the sea cucumber is an ideal tonic, higher in protein and lower in fat content and has impressive profile of high-value nutrients such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (niacin), essential amino acids, trace metals and minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc (Bordbar et al., 2011). The protein content in sea cucumber is comparable to that of a hen’s egg and the very low fat content makes it ideal for people with high blood pressure.
Medicinal importance
In addition to nutritional values, the sea cucumbers have long been recognized in the folk medicine system of Asian countries. In traditional Chinese medicines, the sea cucumber is used for treating body weakness, impotency, debility of the aged, constipation due to intestinal dryness and frequent urination. Recent research has indicated the presence of several bioactive compounds with anti-angiogenic, anticancer, anticoagulant, anti-hypertension, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antithrombotic, antitumor, and wound healing properties. Sea cucumbers also contain copious amounts of mucopolysaccharides, like chondroitin sulfate, which is known for reducing the arthritis pain and inhibit viruses such as herpes and is well known for HIV therapy. Thus sea cucumbers are gaining recognition in biomedical research (Roginsky et al., 2004; Nagase et al., 1995). In view of the medicinal potential, modern food and pharmaceutical industries are keen to develop functional foods and nutraceutical products from different body parts of sea cucumbers. Recently an increasing number of commercial products like juice, balm, liniment oil, cream, toothpaste, gel face wash, body lotion, and soap made from sea cucumber or its extracts are available in the market (Chen, 2007; Bordbar et al., 2011) which include branded products such as ArthiSea, SeaCuMax (arthritis medicine), and Sea Jerky.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
17
Ecological importance
Being suspension feeders and detritivores, the sea cucumbers play an important role in ecosystem functioning by recycling nutrients and carbonates as well as in the bio-turbation of the environment. As suspension feeders, they regulate water quality by affecting the carbonate content and pH of water (Massin, 1982). Sea cucumbers contribute calcium carbonate to the coral reef’s “chemical budget” and act like a natural antacid to neutralize other acidic environmental sources and also help in the recycling of suspended matter (Haemel and Mercier, 1998a). Sea cucumbers help to break down organic materials and redistribute the nutrients to the water column thus preventing hypoxia and other toxic substances going down in the sediment. When they ingest sand, the natural digestive processes in sea cucumber’s gut increase the pH of water on the reef where they defecate, countering the negative effects of ocean acidification. The ammonia waste produced when sea cucumbers digest sand also serves to fertilise the surrounding area, providing nutrients for coral growth and enhance productivity and turnover of benthic diatom communities (Wolkenhauer et al., 2010). Hence its over-exploitation could lead to indirect deleterious effects on the reef and soft bottom ecosystems (Uthicke, 2001; Purcell, 2004b).
Deposit feeding sea cucumbers change the size of ingested particles and turn around the sediment via bioturbation, thereby altering the stratification and stability of muddy and sandy bottoms (Massin, 1982). They are often called the earthworms of the sea, and are responsible for extensive shifting and mixing of substrate and recycling of detrital matter into animal tissue and nitrogenous waste, which can be taken up by algae and sea grass (Uthicke, 2001; Wolkenhauer et al., 2010). In laboratory experiments, the removal of holothurians resulted in development of algal mats, which indicates the negative effect on sediment in fauna as a result of potential anoxia (Uthicke, 1999). Removal of sea cucumbers in some system may therefore reduce primary production for the whole food chain. Holothurians also form an important prey in coral reef and temperate food webs (Birkeland et al., 1982; Birkeland, 1989; Francour, 1997) both in shallow and deep water (Jones and Endean, 1973; Massin, 1982), where they are consumed particularly by fishes, sea stars and crustaceans (Francour, 1997) and their larvae are part of the plankton-based food chains.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
18
Distribution, species diversity, habitat and biological characteristics
Zoogeography and Distribution
Holothurians are found in all the oceans, at all latitudes and from the shore down to abyssal plains. Among the coastal commercial holothurians, the Aspidochirotid holothurians are predominant in the tropics while the Dendrochirotid are more common in temperate regions. Most of the commercially important holothurians are
Holothuria fuscogliva Thelenota ananas
found in the intertidal region to a depth of 20 meters. In India, the holothurians are mostly distributed in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Islands, Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay and Gulf of Katchchh and in Malvan (Maharashtra), Ennore (Tamil Nadu), Kakinada Bay (Andhra Pradesh) and also along several parts of the mainland coast of India.
Most of the holothurian species have a wide range of distribution in the Indo-Pacific region. While about 650 species of sea-cucumbers are known from various parts of the world, about 200 species have been recorded in the Indian seas. Andaman and Nicobar Islands have the richest diversity of sea cucumbers in India, followed by Lakshwadweep Islands, Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay and Gulf of Kutchchh. Of the 200 species, 75 are restricted to shallow waters within 20 metre depth. The distribution pattern of shallow water echinoderms of the Indian seas indicates that owing to their relatively sedentary life, the larval life has a narrow bathymetrical range (James, 1986c). Of the shallow water species, only 12 species are of commercial value and are harvested for preparing ‘beche-de-
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
19
mer ’. The southeast coast of India, particularly the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar, are known for ‘beche-de-mer’ resources.
Holothuria nobilis the most valuable species for ‘beche-de-mer ’ preparation, is found in large numbers in some of the islands of the Lakshadweep and in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (James, 1986b). H. scabra, another commercially important species, is well distributed in the Andamans, Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. It is also recorded along the Malvan coast in the west coast by Parulekar (1981) but totally absent in the Lakshadweep Islands. Another commercially important species H. spinifera has a restricted and localized distribution and is known only from the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. Other commercially important genera like Actinopyga, Bohadschia and Stichopus have wider distribution range and are found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Islands, Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. H. atra is the most common sea cucumber with a wider distribution range, whereas the massive commercially important genus Thelenota is restricted to the lagoons of the Lakshadweep.
Systematic and species diversity
There are six taxonomic orders of holothurians but most of the commercially important species belong to the Order Aspidochirotida and a few to the Order Dendrochirotida (Conand, 2006a). The species diversity of holothurians of the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay has been listed as 23 by James (1986b) and later as 39 species by Sastry (1998). Daniel and Haldar (1974) reported 32 species of holothurians from Andaman and Nicobar Islands based on earlier reports and Sastry (1998) reported 88 species from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Daniel and Haldar (1974) recorded 23 species from Lakshadweep, whereas James (1989a) reported 25 species. Asha (2015) reported 18 species from different habitats and depths of Tuticorin waters.
Habitat
The habitats of the holothurians are diverse and vary from coral reefs, sea grass meadows, rocky, sandy, muddy shores, salt marshes and mangrove beds. Most of the adult stages are benthic, and a few larval stages are pelagic. In general, their distribution is patchy and several species are known to display specific habitat preferences. Generally they live on hard substrates, rocks, coral reefs, soft bottoms, on the sediment surface or buried in the sediment, or as epizoites on plants or invertebrates.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
20Seagrass meadows
High abundance of sea cucumbers in seagrass has been recorded by several authors highlighting the importance of these habitats in the early life stages for settlement (Conand, 2008; Friedman et al., 2011). Seagrass beds are also important habitats for H. scabra and several other species since the larvae and juveniles of sea cucumbers rely heavily on seagrasses for settling cues and early life stages (Mercier et al., 2000). In addition, seagrasses contribute to secondary production mainly by the detrital food web comprising sea cucumbers (Vizzini, 2009). The nutrients produced by decomposition of sea grass are utilized by the primary producers, which then become an important part of the detrital food chain and facilitate the cycling of nutrients (Nelson, 1981).
Coral reefs
Species of the genus Actinopyga are essentially coral dwelling forms. They live in the intertidal region on the coral reef. Clark (1976) mentioned some of the coral dwelling echinoderms. A. mauritiana is a surf loving species being found very near the low-water mark. H. pyxis occurs on the reef flats in Andaman Islands and is found always to live under the stones. The dorsal body wall of A. echinites is wrinkled with sand settling in the depressions and it is often found attached at the base of big rocks by curving its
Sea cucumber in seagrass beds
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
21
body. Bohadschia spp. also live on the coral flats. B. vitiensis lives on the reef flats and lies exposed during low tide with a thin coating of fine mud on the body.
Mudflats
Mudflats are by far the best habitats suitable for sea cucumbers as they are detritus feeders and feed on the organic matter present in the mud. H. scabra is characteristic of muddy flats. During low tide, a number of them can be seen in half-buried condition with their posterior end of the body always kept outside. Small forms (50 to 90 mm in length) are also seen to be lying freely on the muddy grounds during low tides. At some places 2 to10 specimens are distributed in an area of 5 sq.m. The species living in muddy flats are also found on sandy habitat.
Sea cucumbers in coral rubbles
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
22
Lagoon
The lagoons in the Lakshadweep waters are calm with very little disturbance and offer excellent habitats for the holothurians. H. nobilis, the most priced holothurian for ‘beche-de-mer ’ is characteristic of the lagoons. There are two colour forms of this species; the white variety is usually found in deeper waters between 3 to 20 m. It is most abundant on clean sand in reef passages and near turtle-grass. The black variety is typically found in shallow waters at about 3m depth on clean sand bottoms where there is living coral and free movement of water. Bohadschia argus and Stichopus chloronotus are other common species found in the lagoons of Lakshadweep.
Biological characteristicsReproductive biology
Commercial sea cucumbers are predominantly gonochoric; that is, they exist as males or females separately. However, a few species are known to be hermaphroditic (combining both sexes in the same individual). In most gonochoric species, it is not possible to distinguish males from females by their outer appearance, but sea cucumber populations are generally present in 1:1 sex ratio. The majority of sea cucumbers are broadcast spawners, releasing sperms and oocytes (unfertilized eggs) directly into the water column. Females can release thousands to millions of oocytes in a single spawning event. The motile sperm cells (spermatozoa) have to swim to find and fertilise the oocytes. Fertilisation success is, therefore, maximized where males and females are relatively close to each other. The release of gametes, i.e. oocytes and sperm by adults is generally triggered by environmental (for example, certain tidal conditions, lunar phases, temperature fluctuations etc.) and chemical cues from other individuals of the same species. The oocytes of most commercial species of sea cucumbers are generally under 200µm in diameter, and more or less neutrally buoyant when released in the water column. However, commercial species from temperate regions may possess large yolk buoyant oocytes that can measure up to 1mm in diameter. Reproductive cycles are variable among species, but most tropical species have biannual spawning activity and fewer species have annual spawning activity. In addition to sexual reproduction, about 10 species reproduce asexually by transverse fission by dividing at the middle of the body; both halves re-grow necessary organs and form clones of the original individual (Conand,1981; Hyman,1955).
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
23
ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has documented the biology of H. scabra, (Baskar, 1993); H. nobilis and Actinopyga mauritiana (Kandan, 1994); H. atra (Ram Mohan, 2001) and H. spinifera (Asha, 2005).
Growth and longevity
Growth in sea cucumbers is difficult to assess (Conand, 1990) because they are not amenable to conventional tagging methods (Purcell et al., 2006). However, studies on growth rates in the wild are available using modal progression analysis, genetic fingerprinting, and release and monitoring of juveniles. Some species, like H. scabra are relatively fast growing when young, reaching the size at first maturity (<180 g) in a year or so but take another couple of years to reach an acceptable market size (Purcell and Simutoga, 2008). Shelley (1985) estimated growth to be 14g per month for H. scabra and 19 to 27g per month for Actinopyga echinites. Uthicke (1994) found modest weight gain of 70-80g per year by Stichopus chloronotus of 70-80 g per year. Longevity has been estimated as 10 to 15 years for A. mauritiana, A. echinites and Thelenota ananas but only as about 5 years for S. chloronotus (Conand and Sloan, 1989).
Food and feeding
Most of the commercial sea cucumbers are deposit feeders that consume detritus, bacteria and diatoms mixed with sediments on the seabed (Conand, 2006a). Those species on hard reef surfaces “mop up” the particulate organic matter that coats rocks and benthic vegetation. A few commercial species are suspension feeders, which sweep minute organisms and detritus adhering to the tentacles through mucous secretion (Hamel and Mercier, 1998). Holothurians are therefore a low-food chain group.
Predators
Sea cucumbers are prey to a vast array of invertebrate predators like sea stars, crabs and some gastropods (Francour, 1997). A short-term study on released sandfish H. scabra shows that juveniles are prone to being eaten readily by a range of fishes (Dance et al., 2003). Some birds, turtles and marine mammals are also believed to eat sea cucumbers occasionally. However, some species of sea cucumbers develop passive or active mechanisms of defence (e.g. H. atra, H. leucospilota etc.) that have proved to be efficient predator deterrents.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
24
Fishery and resource status
Fishery
Sea cucumbers that are targeted for ‘beche-de-mer ’ production range in size from about 5 cm to over 1 m in length (Conand, 1993). Harvesting in the tropics is typically done by small bottom trawls (roller pulling nets, beam trawl nets, scallop-drag gear etc.) used mainly in soft bottom habitats away from reef structures; direct collection by hand (reef flat gleaning at low tide or wading) or collection with spears, hooks and scoop nets in shallow-water mangrove lagoons, reef flats and grass beds; collection by hand using snorkel and diving gear (SCUBA and hookah) and lift bags for deeper reef and lagoon environments; and collection at night with SCUBA, snorkeling or wading using underwater lights or torches (Conand, 2006b).
Tropical and subtropical sea cucumber fisheries in the western Pacific are generally multi-species as compared to tropical fisheries in the Indian Ocean (H. scabra), eastern Pacific (Isostichopus fuscus) and Caribbean (I. badionotus, H. mexicana and Astichopus multifidus). In the western Pacific, the sea cucumber fisheries primarily target shallow water (up to 50 m depth) deposit-feeding holothurians belonging
Sea cucumber collection by ‘Attai madi’
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
25
to two families and eight genera: Actinopyga, Bohadschia, Microthele and Holothuria (Holothuridae) and Isostichopus, Parastichopus, Stichopus and Thelenota (Stichopodidae). In temperate waters, the sea cucumber fisheries are based on one or two species that are found in the western Pacific around China, Japan, Korea and Russia (Stichopus japonicus), southern hemisphere off New Zealand (S. mollis), eastern Pacific coast of North America (Parastichopus californicus and P. parvimensis) and western Atlantic coast of North America (Cucumaria frondosa) (Conand, 2006a).
In India, the ‘beche-de-mer ’ production was mainly dependent on H. scabra along with H. spinifera, Bohadschia marmorata and H. atra in small quantities initially. However, the processing of B. marmorata and H. atra were stopped because of their poor market value (James,1996). The sudden boom and burst of Actinopyga spp. into the export happened during 1991-1995. In 1986, the processing of deep water red fish, A. echinites was started along the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay coasts (James and Badrudeen, 1995). Processing of another massive form A. miliaris was started in 1992 (James, 1992) but the catch declined in subsequent years. Asha and Diwakar (2006) reported huge landings and processing of Stichopus hermanni collected from a depth of 20m from Tuticorin waters.
Skin divers collecting sea cucumbers
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
26
In India, no special gear or net has been devised exclusively to catch sea-cucumbers. They were usually collected by skin diving, either picked up by hand or by small scoop nets, or caught in ‘Attai madi’, a type of prawn trawl net, modified with added sinkers or bobbins in the foot ropes. They are also caught in ‘Thallu madi/Thallu valai’, bottom trawl nets and bottom-set gillnets as accidental by catch (James, 1989a; BOBLME, 2015).
Holothurians are collected by skin diving to a depth of 1.5 to 6.0 m in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar. Non-mechanised country crafts are used for collection by skin diving. Four to six divers go in country boats with sails at sun rise and return in the afternoon. Even small boys are engaged in diving operations. The divers take net bags in which live sea cucumbers are brought to the shore. The introduction of face masks and use of aluminium plates for the feet as improvised flippers helped efficient locating and collecting of sea cucumbers (James, 1973; 1994a).
Sea cucumbers are caught by trawl nets accidentally as by catch. Since the introduction of trawling in the 1960s in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, more sea cucumbers are exploited. In certain centres of Gulf of Mannar where large number of trawlers are operated, the entire source for processing comes from the trawlers. The overall length of trawlers used for sea cucumber fishing was 11 to 20m, with 70 to 120 horse power engines. The length of trawl net was 13 m with cod end mesh size of 25 mm. Sea cucumbers are also caught by ‘Thallu madi’ during its operations. The overall length of country craft used for sea cucumber fishing with ‘Thallu madi’ was 4 to10 m. The length of ‘Thallu madi’ was 8m, with cod end mesh size of 15 to 25 mm. During low tide, vast areas of mud-flats get exposed and women and children were engaged in the collection of half buried sea cucumbers (James, 1994a).
In a mixed catch of sea cucumbers, the common size ranges between 60 and 150 mm; of this 100 to 150 mm size constitutes 15 to 20%, 70 to 100 mm about 30% and 50 to 70 mm about 50%. Specimens measuring 150 to 210 mm live size are reduced to 60 to 75 mm after processing (James, 1994a & b). In short, after processing the whole catch will fall under the commercial category below 3”.
Sea cucumbers are collected in all the seasons. In the Palk Bay, fishing is conducted from March to October, the peak season being April and May. In the Gulf of Mannar fishing is conducted from October to March with peak season being December and January. March and October are transition months to switch over fishing from Palk Bay to Gulf of Mannar and vice versa. The Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar become rough
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
27
Pseudocolochirus violaceus
during October to March and from March to October respectively (James,1989a). When the sea becomes rough due to high velocity winds, the water gets mixed up and becomes turbid and fishing is suspended during the rough season (James, 1986b; James, 1994a).
Resource status
Reliable long-term estimates are not available on the exploited as well as potential stocks of holothurians in the Indian waters and hence it is difficult to evaluate the stock status. The only publication providing some information on the fishery and landings of holothurians from different centres of Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay is by James and Baskar (1994a). During the last 12 years of moratorium, the survey conducted twice by Zoological Survey of India during 2006 (Venkitaraman, 2006) and 2011-12 (Venkataraman, et al., 2012) and by the ICAR-CMFRI in 2015 (BOBLME, 2015) indicated wide fluctuation in the population of nine holothurian species in the Guf of Mannar and Palk Bay (Table 1). A definite conclusion on the stock trend could not be arrived at from these surveys and therefore there is a need for continuous monitoring of sea cucumber from this region. While a few specimen of A. miliaris were reported during 2006 from Gulf of Mannar (Venkitaraman, 2006), it was not reported in 2011 and 2012 (Venkataraman et al., 2012). Similarly none of the surveys indicated the occurrence of historically processed species namely A. echinites and Stichopus chloronotus from Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, indicating the high vulnerability of these species to fishing and the inability of the depleted stock to repopulate to its original level because of their low reproduction or recruitment rate.
Sri Lanka, the country sharing part of Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar with India, is also having the century old practice of sea cucumber processing introduced by China (Hornell, 1977). It is interesting that survey on sea cucumbers in the Sri Lankan waters indicated more number of sea cucumber species than the Indian side of Gulf
Holothuria sp. (type ‘Pentard’)
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
28
of Mannar. A total of 25 species belonging to 7 genera, out of which, 20 are of commercial importance have been reported from the Sri Lankan waters (Dissanayake and Stefansson, 2010). Except issuing license for diving and transportation, no other regulatory measures are practiced for sea cucumber fishery in Sri Lanka. In spite of this, the main reason for the higher diversity of sea cucumber species in Sri Lanka is probably due to the absence of destructive fishing practice like trawling and may be due to the practice of selective fishing like hand picking through skin or SCUBA diving which ensures the maintenance of conducive pristine habitat for sea cucumber growth (Dissanayake and Wijayarathne, 2007).
Table 1. Reported density (nos.ha-1; mean ±SE) of sea cucumbers
SpeciesGulf of Mannar Palk Bay
2006a 2011b 2012b 2015c 2011b 2012b 2015c
Holothuria scabra1
174±117 1.2±1.7 70.6±23.6 178.9±16.2 39.98±59.03 18.09±28 2352.6± 546.7
H. spinifera 2 - - 1.9±6.7 69.14±33.02 - 0.26±0.82 75.5±57.7H. atra 3 1268±419 3220±512 560.4±
1255.9767.7±177.6 - 0.14±0.74 190.3±101.9
H. leucospilota 3 - 1.6±1.5 5.6±35.5 987.4±362.5 0.06±0.03 0.02±0.11 5.21±2.31Bohadschia marmorata 3
302±184 - 3.3±14.3 192.9±89.6 - 0.02±0.12 10.9±1.2
Stichopus spp.2 162±112 1.2±1.3 - 1599.8±619.2 0.52±1.95 - 6.8±3.4a: Venkitaraman, 2006; b: Venkataraman et al., 2012; c: BOBLME, 20151: high-valued, exploited; 2: medium-valued, exploited; 3: low-valued, not-exploited
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
29
Vulnerability, trade and socio-economic relevance
Chapter-2
Vulnerability and over exploitation of sea cucumbers in the global contextIncrease in demand in the international market coupled with the ease of harvesting and low cost of processing has augmented holothurian fishing and trading in the Indo- Pacific areas (Conand, 2004; Choo, 2008). Inadequate fishery management measures and anthropogenic disturbances are also factors in creating drastic population-size fluctuations and over-fishing of commercial sea cucumbers (Uthicke et al., 2009).
Sea cucumber populations are particularly vulnerable to over-fishing for many reasons. Primarily, harvesters can easily and effectively capture the shallow water holothurians (Uthicke and Benzie, 2000). Most tropical sea cucumber species tend to occur in shallow waters within the limit of breath hold diving (Kinch et al., 2008). Because of their sluggish nature (Conand 1991; Shiell and Knott, 2008), they are incapable to get away quickly from patches of high density once detected and hence are easily caught by fishers.
Second, late age at maturity, slow growth, high longevity, low rates of recruitment make some species vulnerable to over fishing and slow population replenishment (Bruckner, 2005; Conand, 2001; Uthicke and Purcell,2004). In addition, high value species on tropical reefs co-inhabit with those of low–value, allowing opportunistic depletion of high value species by fishers after shifting to low value species. Perhaps a few species are short-lived with regular recruitment.
As sedentary and gonochoric broadcast spawners, the sea cucumbers need to be in close proximity to mates for successful fertilization of gametes (Badcock et al., 1992; Mercier and Haemel, 2009). In low density population, if the animals are too far apart, they may not find mates in spawning periods or the sperm released from males is too far from females to successfully fertilize the oocytes (unfertilized eggs) that they expel resulting in asynchronous spawning. When this occurs, the
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
30
reproduction from those populations fails to compensate for annual mortality of animals, and the population declines to a point where the animals become locally extinct or reproductively extinct-i.e. some individuals may still exist but there is no effective reproduction. This effect is called the Allee effect (Allee 1938; Courchamp et al., 1999; Uthicke et al., 2009) or ‘depensation’, and is believed to be a primary cause of collapse of many invertebrate fisheries inhibiting recovery, particularly of the sedentary groups (Bruckner, 2005; Uthicke and Benzie, 2000). However, such density thresholds for successful reproduction are poorly known for sea cucumbers. Bell et al. (2008) speculated that the “threshold densities to avoid dispensation for most tropical sea cucumbers will be in the range of 10 to 50 individuals per hectare over substantial areas, depending on species and location”. As the life history traits and ecology of the populations of many of the commercial species are poorly documented and very little is known on the larval stages, recruitments, growth and mortality of most species, it is difficult to come to a conclusion on the status of the resources.
Over fishing has severely decreased the biomass of many sea cucumber populations (Conand 2004; Lawrence et al., 2004; Skewes et al., 2000). Thus far, even with harvesting closures, sea cucumber stocks seem slow to recover (Ahmed and Lawrence, 2007;D’Silva, 2001; Uthicke, 2004); and recovery can potentially be on the order of decades (Uthicke, 2004). Over-fishing depleted a few populations to levels at which they could not recover, even 50 years after fishing ban (Battaglene and Bell, 2004).
Because of current concerns that over-fishing is causing an unacceptable decline in sea cucumber populations, many countries are being urged to reduce their fishing efforts in the hope that stocks will recover (Friedman and Chapman, 2008). However, lack of documented information on stock recovery, or knowledge of the point where natural productivity will support sustainable extraction, remains a critical shortcoming to management (Conand and Sloan, 1989; Uthicke and Conand, 2005). Appropriate fishery regulations are needed to limit the current rate of depletion of stocks in many countries.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
31
TradeThe historical world beche-de-mer market data from 1917 to 1986 was reviewed by Conand (1990). Initially the trade was largely controlled by the Chinese. According to Hornell (1917), the Chinese traded with South India and Sri Lanka for one thousand years for ‘beche-de-mer’ and pearls. Records on the export of ‘beche-de-mer’ are available from 1898 onwards from the Madras Presidency. Later the trade has shifted to two main markets namely, Hong Kong and Singapore. These markets are also the major re-exporting centers. The leading exporters were Indonesia, the Philippines, Fiji Islands, Japan, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Thailand and the USA (Conand, 2004).
The ‘beche-de-mer’ production in India is exclusively export-oriented and the bulk of the export from India goes to Singapore. The export trend of ‘beche-de-mer’ from India from 1963 to 1987 and from 1995-96 to 2002-03 is given in figures 1, 2 and 3. The annual export ranged from 3.0 t to 53.8 t (Fig.1). The ‘beche-de-mer’ exported to Singapore and Hong Kong prior to 1980 was confined to sizes 4” to 6” and 3” to 4”. Since the market demand overshot the production, the buyers started placing orders with exporters for sizes 2” and below in spite of the fact that such smaller sizes contained a higher percentage of sand content. Since the smaller sizes were exported in large quantity, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) represented to the Government of India to ban the export of ‘beche-de-mer ’ below 3” in size, which was enforced from 1982.
Fig.1. Trend in the export of ‘beche-de-mer’ from India during 1963 to 1987 (Source: MPEDA)
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
32
Because of the ban, export of ‘beche-de-mer’ suffered a severe setback in 1982 and declined to 37.14 t from 47.84 t in 1981 (Fig.1). Since the major portion of exports of ‘beche-de-mer’ was constituted by the size grades 2” to 3” the exporters of ‘beche-de-mer ’ were affected considerably and hence they demanded removal of the ban. At that time, no country had restricted the body size for export and hence, other countries
Fig. 2. Percent export of ‘beche-de-mer’ < 3’’ size from India (Source: MPEDA)
Fig. 3. Trend in the export of ‘beche-de-mer’ from India during 1995-96 to 2002-03 (Source: MPEDA)
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
33
were exporting size below 3”. From the analyses of commercial invoices of exports for the period from 1979-80 to 1983-84 it has been found that the size grades below 3” accounted for 49 to 87% (Fig. 2). During 1983 to 1987, the exports picked up due to extra effort put by the traders to procure material from various places due to the higher price offered (Rs. 86 to 148 per kg) of ‘beche-de-mer’ .
The export figures from 1995-96 to 2002-03 shows a gradual decline to 11 t during 2002-03 from 123 t in 1995-96 (Fig. 3). The export value increased from 1995-96 to 1998-99 with an average price of Rs 275.5 per kg but during 2002-03 the average price was higher (Rs 567 per kg Source: MPEDA).
The body size is the most important criteria during ‘beche-de-mer ’ preparation as sea cucumbers shrink to one-third of their original size during processing. In India, the species covered in the standard of the Bureau of Indian Standards were H. scabra, H. spinifera, H. atra, H. nobilis, B. marmorata, B. argus, A. mauritiana, A. lacanora, A. miliaris, A. echinites and Thelenota ananas (James, 1986a). The dried ‘beche-de-mer’ also came under the purview of Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Act of 1963 where only two grades of ‘beche-de-mer ‘ were allowed for export, i.e., 3” to 4” and 4” to 6”.
Fisherwomen engaged in sea cucumber processing
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
34
Effect of fishing ban on the livelihood of fishersAbout 20,000 fishers were involved in sea cucumber fishery and more than 50,000 (including fishers, middlemen and traders) were benefited from this fishery in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay (Chellaram et al., 2003). The 1982 ban on the export of the processed holothurians of less than 3’’ size partially affected the livelihood of fishers. However, the 2001 blanket ban totally affected the livelihood of thousands of fishermen families involved in sea cucumber fishing. There was a loss in their regular income as they were not able to do other fishing activities due to lack of capacity for investment. As a consequence, their debts increased and they were unable to give quality education to their children. They also found difficulty in arranging marriages of their daughters. A few fishers migrated to other districts and states in search of occupation after implementation of the ban (BOBLME, 2015). Deprived fishermen and traders of this region made several representations to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, requesting to lift the ban and to allow fishing of sea cucumber. As there was no positive response from the Ministry, the fishermen and traders have recently approached the judiciary. As the ban has affected thousands of fishermen families, they want the ban to be lifted at least for a few commercially important species. They are agreeable to follow regulatory measures like size restriction on fishing of undersized sea cucumbers, exclusion of breeding stock from fishing, restraining from use of destructive gears, exclusive fishing ban period for stock replenishment, sea ranching and stock enhancement programmes.
Economic aspects
During the ban, the sea cucumbers were mostly taken by skin diving and as by-catch in trawling, ‘thallumadi’ and ‘chankuvalai’. Fishing by skin diving was economically most efficient than other modes of fishing as the cost of operation and investment were very low. However, the revenue was five times the operating cost during the pre-ban period, which has reduced to 3.3 times in the ban period, since fishers are receiving lesser price during ban as it is a clandestine activity. Moreover most of the fishers were selling fresh sea cucumbers during ban for which they receive lower prices (BOBLME, 2015).
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
35
‘All those in the supply chain received a better price for processed sea cucumbers in comparison to unprocessed ones, since fresh sea cucumbers cannot be stored for long duration and the processed sea cucumbers can be readily used for consumption and medicine preparation. The processed sea cucumbers are sold based on count (20 or 45 counts per kg), whereas fresh ones are sold based on size (25 to 30cm or 10 to 15 cm per piece). Before the ban, the trade was mostly on 20 counts per kg of processed sea cucumbers. During ban, the fishers mostly sell fresh sea cucumbers (H. scabra) of length 25 to 30 cm (approximately 500 gm) to the first level middlemen for Rs. 150/- per piece. Sea cucumbers of length 25 to 30 cm are mostly preferred, since it will give a desirable size after processing. However, some fishermen are also selling fresh sea cucumbers of length 10 to 15 cm (approximately 250 gm) to the first level middlemen for Rs. 50/- per piece. The first level middlemen process the sea cucumbers. To get one kilogram of processed sea cucumbers, 10 kg of fresh sea cucumbers (20 pieces of length 25 to 30 cm or 40 pieces of length 10 to 15 cm) are required (BOBLME, 2015).
Table 2. Average market price for processed sea cucumbers across the supply chain in 2015 (1US$= approximately Rs.68/-)
Actors in supply chainBefore ban (Rs. per kg) After ban (Rs. per kg)
20 counts 45 counts 20 counts 45 counts
Fishermen 5,000 2,000 9,000 3,000
1st level Middlemen 5,100 2,100 9,600 3,500
2nd level Middlemen 5,300 2,250 10,400 4,100
3rd level Middlemen 5,600 2,500 11,800 5,000
Traders 6,200 3,400 15,000 7,000
Exporters 10,500 5,000 18,000 11,400
Source: BOBLME, 2015
In the last 15 years of ban, the price of sea cucumbers has doubled at every level in the market chain. The increase in price is due to the high demand in international markets. At every level in the market chain, the price of larger sea cucumbers (20 counts) was 2 to 2.5 times higher than the smaller ones (45 counts) (Table 3). The fishermen get approximately 50% of the value of sea cucumbers before and during the ban. The maximum profit before the ban was for the exporters, who sold the products for Rs.10,500 (for 20 counts) by investing only Rs 6,200, i.e. a profit of about 70% over investment. However, during ban, the profit margin (% over investment) is almost equally distributed along the market chain. This may be because of fear that all are involved in illegal activities and do not want to be exposed. Both before and after the ban, the traders were not revealing the export price to the fishers/middlemen.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
36
Guidelines for conservation and sustainable use
Chapter-3
The listing of all species of holothurians in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and imposing a total ban on the collection and trade is a more stringent, but legitimate policy option within the CITES agreement. Although the listing was aimed as a management measure by the Government of India for the protection and conservation of the natural stock of sea cucumber, the collection and trade continues illegally and may increase in future. This is mainly because of the continuing demand for ‘beche-de-mer’ in the international markets and livelihood dependency which has led to clandestine exploitation and trade of both raw and processed sea cucumbers from the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. The enforcement of ban by the Government might have perhaps helped in reviving the population of sea cucumbers in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, but at the same time, the ban has social and economic impacts on scores of people, particularly the fishers who were dependent on sea cucumber for their livelihood. Almost everyone involved in the collection and trade of sea cucumber opposes the ban. A controlled or a regulatory mechanism of collection and trade of sea cucumbers involving all concerned stakeholders might be a preferred policy solution, as this would help in conservation and sustainable use of these resources, as well as put an end to the thriving illegal trade.
The twin objectives of sea cucumber fishery management are conservation of resources and sustainable utilization of stock. The role of communities is an important factor for biodiversity conservation. The communities should have access to the resources and at the same time should take the responsibility to conserve and sustainably use it. For any conservation action, adequate scientific information on the habitat, biology and fishery is imperative. Although sea cucumber fishery has been in vogue since many decades in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, there is lack of sufficient information on many aspects including growth, mortality and recovery rates, spawning season, longevity, habitat preference etc. which are vital to arrive at robust management decisions for effective conservation. If scientific information is inadequate, it is essential to collect the required information through concerted scientific efforts on a continuous basis. In this situation, the managers must go ahead and implement the best management practices as a precautionary approach while gathering more information to assess the stock.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
37
Measures for management
In the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, the sea cucumber fishery was on a small-scale, and spatially structured, targeting the sedentary stocks. The management of sea cucumber fishery is different from that of other fishery resources which are highly mobile. The potential management measures for sea cucumber fishery may be grouped under three major categories viz., (i) regulatory, (ii) restocking and (iii) implementation. The regulatory measures are those imposed on the fishers and traders, while restocking is a stock recovery measure. Institutionalizing and implementing the first two measures forms the implementation part. The management of fishery is location-specific and the management tools to be used vary with the specific situations. Although wide range of management options is available, it is not essential to use all tools in the kit for all situations. The selection depends on the management objectives, type of fishery, species to be managed, technical capacity of the managers and acceptance by all stakeholders.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
38
Suggested regulatory measuresa) Catch quota and licensing
The fishermen involved in the collection of sea cucumber should be registered and license need to be issued to each one of them. Also, catch quotas should be fixed for individual fishers or a fishing group (usually diving group comprises of 5 individuals operating from a boat), so that resources are not over-exploited and there is also equity in sharing of resource. Deciding upon ‘Quota of Harvest’ for each fishing unit should be based on the outcome of periodic stock assessment studies conducted by research institutions. However, it is a challenge to fix a quota for trawl by-catch. The authorities/managers should ensure that the fishermen involved in collection of sea cucumbers maintain log books and receipt books for verification of sales, and carry out random inspections at the processing facilities. The concerned authorities should also deny license to fishermen for non-compliance.
b) Minimum Legal Size (MLS)
For any sustainable fishery, the ‘Minimum Legal Size’ (MLS) is one of the important measures which would ensure restriction on removal of juveniles. The MLS is fixed based on the length at first maturity and this would vary from one species to the other. The purpose of prescribing MLS is to protect juveniles and allow mature individuals to spawn for one or two seasons. Since sea cucumbers are traded in the form of dried and processed ‘beche-de-mer ’, correspondingly MLS has to be fixed for ‘beche-de-mer’ also. The Government of India had set the MLS as 75 mm for the export of ‘beche-de-mer’ in 1982. The MLS therefore need to be fixed for each of the traded species so that each individual animal gets an opportunity to spawn at least once during its life time, before they are caught. This would ensure a steady recruitment in the wild. Though MLS is followed in many countries, it is not easy to determine, as the sea cucumbers contract the body immediately when handled. The length and weight can be measured after allowing the animal to relax for a while and to release the engulfed water. Generally the size at first maturity varies with species. The size at first maturity in the case of Holothuria scabra is estimated as 230 mm (Baskar, 1993). Therefore the MLS can be fixed marginally above 230mm as suggested by James and James (1994). This regulation can be implemented effectively through skin divers, who can visibly note the length of the animal in relaxed condition under water and can perform selective harvesting to avoid juvenile fishing. As sea cucumbers can remain alive out of water for some time, the juveniles caught by other modes of fishing practice can be returned to the sea.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
39
c) Seasonal closures
Seasonal closures could protect reproductive stocks of sea cucumbers. For seasonal closure, it is necessary to consider the spawning period of important species of sea cucumbers. However, this measure would be difficult to implement because reproductive seasons may extend for many months and species exhibit asynchronous spawning periods. It is suggested that seasonal closure may be considered for the peak spawning periods and frequency of spawning months of commercially important species of sea cucumber, which would help in recruitment and replenishment of wild stock. In locations close to the equator, H. scabra is known to display a biannual pattern with two spawning periods (Muthiga et al., 2010). Asha and Muthiah (2008) reported that effective spawning of H. spinifera is caused due to changes in salinity, temperature and productivity of the marine environment during the post-monsoon season (north-east monsoon) along the south-east coast of India which has been proved in the laboratory experiments. Effective spawning of H. scabra occurred during the same period in the laboratory induction studies (Asha et al., 2007). Effective spawning in H. scabra has also been reported during the same period along the Sri-Lankan coast also (Ajith and Dissenayake, 2015). Hence, November to January is the ideal period for seasonal closure for ensuring the spawners to breed and propagate their progeny.
Along the coast of Tamil Nadu, there is a forty five days’ fishing ban for mechanized boats during summer from April 15 to May 30, every year, based on the peak spawning season of commercially important species of fin-fishes and shell-fishes. The sea cucumbers are regularly caught as by-catch in trawlers and as trawlers are included in the closure, the by-catch of sea cucumber is restricted for at least 45 days during the ban period, even though the sea cucumbers are not the focus of seasonal closure.
d) Pulse fishing or rotational fishing
The pulse fishing strategy allows fishing for one or several years followed by an inactive period of several or many years (Friedman et al., 2011) after considering the ecological and social risks. The shifting of livelihood in years of closure will not be acceptable to the fishers and traders and there would be pressure to prolong fishing beyond the ecological safe limits. In contrast, several decades of modest fishing have resulted in stable stocks in a few regions (Purcell et al., 2013). In India, the moratorium may be relaxed for one year, but with restrictions on the fishery. By observing the behaviour of fishermen and traders and the response of the resources, decision could be taken on continuation of pulse fishing with changes in restrictions.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
40
e) Spatial closure and no-take zones
It is imperative to identify certain areas as ‘protected habitats’ or ‘no-take zones’ as a measure of conservation. In the Gulf of Mannar, an area of 560 sq. km. encompassing 21 uninhabited islands is a Marine National Park since 1986. A Biosphere Reserve is located within the park, which is a protected area. Fishing and other human activities are prohibited within the Marine Biosphere Reserve. Although the impact of declaration of reserve in the conservation of resources have not been assessed, it is quite possible that three decades of protection would have helped in the recovery of stocks of many resources, including sea cucumbers. Also, being a Marine Protected Area (MPA), it is easy to identify certain locations as ‘no-take zones’, through community participation.
The Palk Bay, on the other hand, is characterized by vast stretches of seagrass meadows which are an ideal habitat for many marine invertebrates including the holothurians. Therefore creation of ‘no-take zones’ in the Palk Bay would not only help in conservation of sea cucumber population but also in the preservation of seagrass habitats. The ‘no-take zones’ need to be identified involving the local communities who were involved in sea cucumber fishing and have a rich knowledge on sea cucumber habitats and areas of abundance. A community level self-imposed regulation would be far-reaching and successful in restricting targeted fishing for sea cucumber in the designated no-take areas. Marine reserves may be particularly useful for sea cucumbers because effective spawning and fertilisation seems to require high densities of breeding population, which may not occur in most of the open fishing grounds (Bell et al., 2008).
f) Gear limitation
Gear limitation will protect the resources as well as the environment. In addition to targeted collection of sea cucumbers by divers, the sea cucumbers also form incidental catches in destructive gears like pair trawl, Thallumadi (minitrawl) and Roller madi (a kind of trawl). These destructive fishing gears are already banned by the Government of Tamil Nadu. However, these gears are being illegally operated in the inshore areas and in seagrass habitats causing destruction to the seagrass beds and also to the sea cucumbers and other resources. The operation of trawl in the inshore areas, very close to the shore is banned under the Marine Fishing Regulation Act (1981), but this restriction is often violated by the fishermen. A strict vigilance and surveillance on the operation of banned fishing gears will reduce the damages caused to the seagrass beds and many benthic invertebrates including sea cucumbers.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
41
g) Species protection
The IUCN has listed H. scabra as ‘Endangered’ (EN), H. spinifera as ‘Data Deficient’ (DD), and A. miliaris, A. echinites and S. hermanni as ‘Vulnerable’ (VU) in the Red List of Threatened Species. Of the 39 species recorded in Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, the fishery and trade is mostly restricted to two species, namely, the high valued H. scabra and medium valued H. spinifera. A few other medium valued species, namely, A. miliaris, A. echinites and S.hermanni are fished and traded occasionally. The most widely traded species are also available in relatively higher abundance, hence less abundant ones may be declared as protected species. Species-specific bans do not prevent serial depletion of other species further down the value chain as species of lesser value will be targeted by fishers, at the same or higher rate, when high-value species become scarce. Hence it might be advisable to set a shortlist of allowable species, and to implement various regulatory measures.
h) Habitat protection
The health of the habitat is a pre-requisite and decisive in having a healthy stock of animals. Pristine habitat would ensure higher survival, optimum growth and breeding. Many sensitive habitats including corals and seagrass beds are susceptible to changes both due to natural and man-made causes. The distribution and abundance of sea cucumbers are closely associated with benthic habitats like sandy and mudflats, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, mangrove swamps and rocky areas. Several species show specific habitat preferences. Holothuria scabra and H. spinifera are associated with sandy bottom and mudflats, while Actinopyga spp. show a preference for coral reefs and reef flats (James, 1994). The seagrass beds are also important habitats of H. scabra and several other species, since the larvae and juveniles of sea cucumbers rely heavily on seagrass for settling cues and early life stages (Mercier et al., 2000). In India, the coral reefs are protected under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, but not the seagrass beds. When trawling is done in the inshore seagrass areas, it results in the damage of seagrass beds. Also, the country trawl, locally called Thallumadi is invariably operated in the seagrass beds for catching shrimps. The operation of country trawl results in the removal of large quantities of seagrass, which affects the larval as well as adult stages of many invertebrate communities for which the seagrass ecosystem is an essential and preferred habitat. Therefore, efforts are needed to develop an understanding of the present status of sea cucumber habitats and to undertake habitat restoration measures.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
42
i) Trade management
Although regular fishing and trade happened for several years prior to the ban imposed by the Government in 2003, there is not much information on the quantity of holothurians that were collected and traded. At present in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, illegal trade thrives and the fishers, middlemen, traders and exporters are all involved in a long market chain. If the government lifts the moratorium and permits regulated fishing, the concerned government agencies should ensure that the poor fishers get a fair share of the export value. The agencies should monitor the market chain within the country and also the export prices, so that the trade is well regulated. Also, monitoring the entire market chain from the fishermen to the exporters will enable the government agencies to set and levy appropriate taxes and duties. The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and the Customs Department should regularly monitor the export prices of sea cucumbers which is inevitable for a better trade management.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
43
Potential for restockingHatchery and grow-out potential of sea cucumbers in India; developments and experience in other parts of the world
Insufficient management measures and weak governance have caused sustained over-fishing of high valued sea cucumber populations in many parts of the world and these have prompted research activities for stock restoration and sustainable livelihood activities based on culture of sea cucumber species (Erickson et al., 2011; Robinson, 2013; Han et al., 2016; Hair et al., 2016).
The history of spawning and larval rearing of sea cucumber dates back to 1940, when the Japanese attempted seed production of temperate sea cucumber species Apostichopus japonicus owing to overexploitation of this species in Japanese waters (Imai and Inaba, 1950). Mass production of viable juveniles for restocking and sea ranching projects was initiated in Japan in the 1980s (Ito and Kitamura, 1997; Yanagisawa, 1998). In China also, research on hatchery technique of this species was initiated in the 1950s and major progress on artificial breeding was made in the mid 1980s, and the techniques was perfected by 1995 (Zhang and Liu, 1998). Now, China has emerged as the world leader in sea cucumber aquaculture with the production exceeding 170,000 tonnes, surpassing production from capture fisheries (Robinson and Lovatelli, 2015). Juveniles of A. japonicus are mass produced in hatcheries in controlled conditions and farmed to market size in a wide variety of production systems such as pond, tank and raft, intensive production in re-circulating aquaculture systems (RAS), as well as in floating cages and sea ranching, (Han et al., 2016). By restocking of the natural habitat with hatchery-reared seed, the major sea cucumber consumer countries like China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan could successfully manage the sea cucumber stocks (Robinson, 2013).
Research on sea cucumber seed production in India
Research on aquaculture production of tropical sea cucumber species in India was initiated by ICAR-CMFRI in 1987 and the research team succeeded in the seed production of Holothuria scabra (Fig.4a) for the first time (James et al., 1988; 1994). Since then seed production of this species has been repeated on a number of occasions and used for sea ranching purpose. A part of the seed produced was used for culture experiments at different locations as well as in enclosures made of different materials and sizes like velon screen cages, netlon cages, concrete rings and in tanks. The results of these were not promising for various reasons like poor water circulation in
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
44
Fig.4. Brood stock of holothurians ( a. Holothuria scabra, b. H. spinifera )
a
b
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
45
the production system, development of toxic gases and poor durability of materials (James et al., 1996). The culture experiments of juvenile H. scabra attempted in a prawn farm using concrete rings yielded encouraging results that proved the efficiency of sea cucumbers in cleaning the pond bottom by consuming the feed waste (James et al., 1999). Among the tropical sea cucumber species, H. scabra is considered as an ideal candidate in many countries for stock enhancement programme for reasons like wide distribution, sedentary nature, simple production systems, low trophic level (consumption of organic matter/detritus) requiring no additional feed, low-cost and attaining marketable size in approximately 12 months (Battaglene, 1999).
In 2001, success was achieved in the seed production of another commercial and over-exploited sea cucumber species H. spinifera (Fig.4b) (Asha, 2005; Asha and Muthiah, 2002). H. spinifera was the second major contributor to the ‘beche-de-mer ’ production from Indian waters. It was once rated very high in the market and the most preferred species of the Chinese consumers, hence was locally named as Raja attai, and Cheeni attai. This species is declared as an endangered species in China (Chinese Species Information Service) and is considered as a highly priced species in Tanzania (Purcell et al., 2012). Hence development of hatchery techniques of this species was expected to have greater importance for stock replenishment and farming. The chronological development with details of various larval stages up to juvenile of both the species are given in figures 5,6 and table 3.
Table 3. Time after fertilization and mean size for different developmental stages of Holothuria scabra and H. spinifera in laboratory condition.
Development stage Time after fertilizationMean size ± SE
H. scabra H. spinifera
Gastrula 24 hours 270.7±2.5µm 265.4± 6.06µm
Auricularia (early) 2 days 481.2±9.8µm 489± 14.1µm
Auricularia (late) 10 days 1072 ±25µm 809± 50µm
Doliolaria 10 – 12 days 520 ±18µm 468± 23.3µm
Pentactula 13 – 15 days 371 ±21µm 330±16.7µm
Early juveniles 20 days 1.3±1.3mm 0.95 ±2.5mm
Juveniles 48 days 14.3±1mm 10.1±1.1 mm
Juveniles 55 days 18.2 ±0.9mm 16.1±0.9 mm
Juveniles 62 days 23.7±0.7mm 18 ±0.5mm
Through continuous research,, several improvements were made in the hatchery and culture protocols of the two species during the period 2001-2005. Determination of optimal spawning induction methods, larval feeding regime, microalagal diet,
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
46
environmental conditions, settlement preference, stocking densities at different stages of larval and early juvenile rearing have been worked out (Asha, 2004 ; Asha and Muthiah, 2005, 2006, 2007; Asha et al., 2011; Asha and Diwakar, 2013). Sea ranching of 11,335 juveniles of H. scabra (mean size-23mm) in different locations of Gulf of Mannar area was carried out during this period (Asha et al., 2007).
Fig.5. Developmental stages of Holothuria spinifera (a. Fertilized egg, b. Gastrula, c. Early auricularia, d. Late auricularia, e. Doliolaria, f. Pentactula )
a
c
e
b
d
f
40µm 47µm
87µm 210µm
104µm 235µm
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
47
Developments in sea cucumber aquaculture production in other parts of the world
After the initial success of H. scabra in the Indian waters, advanced research effort by the World Fish Center in the Solomon Islands (1997-2000), New Caledonia (2001-2008) and Vietnam (2003-2016) (Agudo,2006; Battaglene,1999; Pitt and Duy,2004) has helped refinement of mass production of juveniles of H. scabra. Further research on aquaculture techniques of this species (Mills et al., 2012 ; Raison, 2008; Purcell et al., 2012) helped successful development and dissemination of hatchery, nursery and grow-out technology, which are currently being followed by many countries (Hair et al., 2016). The current production of H. scabra is limited to 130t per year through extensive production systems including sea ranching, sea pen farming and pond culture (Robinson and Lovatelli, 2015). Farming of H. scabra is providing an alternative livelihood source for coastal communities in countries ranging from Madagascar to Fiji (Robinson, 2013; Hair
a
c
b
d
Fig.6. Juveniles of Holothuria scabra (a. one month old, b.120 days old) and H. spinifera (c. 85 days old and d. 120 days old)
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
48
et al., 2016). Globally, the techniques for seed production through hatchery system have been developed for 14 over-exploited commercial sea cucumber species (Appendix 1).
Advancement in nursery and grow out techniques of H.scabra
Nursery rearing
Several research advancements have been made on nursery and grow out rearing of H. scabra juveniles worldwide, which make the operation cost-effective and simple. Earlier experiments proved that sea cucumber juveniles in the nursery stages can be successfully reared in hatchery-based raceway systems, but because of the high cost of production and larger tank area at commercial scale production, these systems proved economically not viable. A range of new nursery systems has been trialled in many countries. In Madagascar, the juveniles are transferred directly to outdoor nursery ponds containing sediment from seagrass areas. In Vietnam and Philippines, fine-mesh nets (referred to as ‘hapas’) constructed from 1-mm mesh installed in ponds, raceways or in protected areas are proved efficient resulting in high survival and growth rates (Mille et al., 2012; Robinson, 2013). An ‘advanced nursery’ stage has now been introduced in Vietnam, where in ponds with optimal seawater supply and organically rich muddy-sand are seeded with 2–5g juveniles from hapas at a high density of up to 50,000 juveniles/ha and reared up to 50g ensuring high survival and fast growth during the grow out stage.
Grow-out techniques
The grow out includes both extensive and intensive techniques. Sea ranching is currently one of the most extensive forms of sea cucumber aquaculture. Community based sea ranching enterprises in pen and pond have been practised in Fiji, Philippines, Madagascar, New Caledonia and Vietnam. Sea ranching has been developed in regions where communities have some degree of ownership over near-shore areas and involved in marine resource management. In Fiji and Philippines, sea ranching projects are co-managed by communities and local governments in large areas of seagrass beds (~5 ha) (Junio-Menez et al., 2012a). In Papua New Guinea, community-based sea ranching trials indicated that minimizing the size at release of cultured juveniles, post release mortality, time taken to reach harvest size, material and labour cost will be helpful for sustainable and economically viable practice (Hair et al., 2016). Natural disasters and poaching are the two major threats to the economic viability of sea ranching operations (Hair, 2012; Junio-Menez et al., 2012b).
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
49
Spawning of female Holothuria scabra
Sea pen farming is a semi-intensive form of small-scale aquaculture offering greater control over initial site selection, predation, monitoring and harvesting of stock, with no additional feed or fertilizers. In Madagascar, user rights and ownership of pen have been assigned to a group of farmers with capital inputs supplied by donor agencies initially until the farmers become established and self sufficient. Farmers constructed pens of 225 to 600 m2 in near shore seagrass beds using locally available material and stocked hatchery-reared juveniles (10-15g) at 0.5/m2. The growth rate was 1.5g/d, depending upon the carrying capacity of the site (Robinson, 2013). In the Philippines, juveniles (5-7g) are often stocked in sea pens to facilitate monitoring of the stock after release. The juveniles registered a growth rate of 1.0-1.8g/d. Poaching and predation are the two bottlenecks faced by pen farming activities (Robinson and Pascal, 2012; Robinson, 2013).
Extensive research on pond farming has been conducted in Vietnam. Sandfish monoculture is proving to be a viable economic alternative for prawn farmers (Duy, 2012). Ponds in intertidal areas with good water exchange and sandy muddy substrate were stocked at 1/m2 with juvenile sandfish (of 2g) that were reared in nursery of hapa nets. The juveniles showed survival rates as high as 80 to 87 percent and growth rates ranged from 2.2 to 3.2 g/d, with the sandfish reaching a harvest size of 300 to 350g within 6 to 14 months (Duy, 2012). Pond culture of H. scabra juveniles conducted in Phillippines and Thailand on an experimental basis indicated that high growth rates are inversely proportional to density (Mills et al.,
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
50
2012). Pond-based co-culture systems involving sea cucumbers and other pelagic groups for optimising space are gaining momentum in many countries. Trials with Penaeus monodon (tiger shrimp; Pitt et al., 2004) and Litopenaeus stylirostris (Pacific blue shrimp; Purcell et al., 2006; Bell et al., 2007) showed some initial promise; however, larger–scale trials proved unsuccessful. Culture experiments with larger juveniles (approx. 50 g) tested with shrimp post-larvae gave promising results in Vietnam. Similarly rotational culture trials practised by a good number of producers in Vietnam, have shown high sandfish growth rates in ponds recently used for shrimp culture (Duy, 2012). Intensive, land-based sandfish culture in recirculating systems is currently being practised in South-Africa also (Robinson, 2013).
Sandfish are excellent candidates for integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) -the practice of culturing several species together based on their mode of nutrition, with one species consuming the waste of another. Co-culture of sea cucumber with fin fishes like pompano, milkfish and sea bass was found promising in the trial conducted in the Philippines (SEAFDEC-AQD) with survival close to 100% (Mills et al., 2012). Similarly, IMTA experimental farming trial conducted for the commercially valuable red seaweed Kappaphycus striatum, and sandfish has been demonstrated successfully in Zanzibar, Tanzania (Robinson, 2013).
Future prospects of sea cucumber farming in India
Through the pioneering success in the development of breeding and consistent seed production techniques of two species of sea cucumbers, (H. scabra and H. spinifera), India has proved its research potential and engrossment in developing and formulating the conservation strategies for over-exploited sea cucumber resources. For conserving the species, continued research effort has to be made on development of seed production techniques of other depleted species like Actinopyga echinites, A. miliaris and Stichopus chloronotus which once existed in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay but have totally disappeared from the fishery over the years. High valued and unexploited sea cucumber species like H. fuscogliva, H. nobilis and Thelenota ananas having high international market values are available in Lakshadweep waters. Attempts may be made for hatchery production and farming of these species.
Future research on hatchery techniques in India needs to be focused on improvements of nursery rearing and grow out techniques of holothurian juveniles. By upgrading the existing larval and juvenile rearing techniques for cost-effective mass production of holothurian juveniles through hatchery system, community based sea ranching may be carried out followed by proper monitoring. It is also possible to use a part of the
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
51
hatchery produce for farming into adults (through the pen, pond, mono or co-culture) and the farmed adults may be used for export. Thus, India may move towards providing regulated permits for collection of broodstock of threatened species for establishing hatchery and aquaculture programmes and certification that exports are from farmed stocks. The community-based management system should ensure protection of released juveniles until harvest and these could result in small, but dense, breeding populations that improve egg production for rebuilding sea cucumber stocks in neighbouring fishing grounds. In India, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change may adopt a strategy by funding research programmes on hatchery seed production and sea ranching in a participatory manner involving the local communities, which in turn will help evolving strategies for ensuring conservation and sustainable fishery of sea cucumber resources.
Colour morph of Holothuria scabra
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
52
Implementation of management measuresImplementation of various regulatory measures is a challenge, but holds the key for sustaining the sea cucumber fisheries. The regulations should help sustainable utilization of resources, improving the socio-economic status of fisher communities and conservation of sea cucumber resources in the wild. An overarching goal in the management of sea cucumber fisheries is to safeguard the reproductive capacity of breeding stocks so that the resources are available to future.
As discussed in the preceding paragraphs, a wide range of options of regulatory and restocking measures are available; however, identification of right measure and planning is the first step in the process of implementation. All regulatory measures may not be applicable to our situation and hence careful selection of viable regulatory measures which are practical and implementable should be chosen. The regulatory measures would vary with the species that is targeted and the type of habitat in which it lives. Also, no single regulatory measure would help in achieving the goal; and therefore, a combination of more than one regulatory measures is to be carefully chosen. Strict surveillance and monitoring by the responsible agencies is essential to ensure effective implementation of various measures.
Co-management
Participation of all stakeholders holds the key for success in any fishery management plan. For sustainable management of sea cucumber fishery and conservation, a large number of stakeholders like the fishers, traders, processors, exporters, officials of the Department of Fisheries, Department of Forests, Indian Coast Guard, Coastal Marine Police, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve Trust (GOMBRT), Non-Government Organisations, research and academic institutions have defined roles to play and they should be involved at each stage of dialogue and implementation of plans. In co-management of sea cucumber resources, both the communities and the government share the responsibility and authority for managing the fishery, with various degrees of power sharing.
Any long-term management strategy should ensure involvement of local communities who are the custodians of resources in their locality. They are well aware of the resources and the importance of each of the resources and thereby the need for sustainable utilization. While aiming at conservation, the communities should have access to the resources, and the local communities should be assured that they have a stake on the resources, provided they do not violate the regulatory measures imposed by the government.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
53
Capacity building
Capacity building at all levels, from fishermen to government officials is essential to develop skills and knowledge for effective implementation of sustainable fishery management practices and conservation of sea cucumber stocks. It is necessary to improve the capacity of fishers to opt for eco-friendly methods of fishing and to restrict fishing with regard to size regulations, in a regulated fishery regime. Government agencies need to develop capacity for use of scientific information to implement management interventions, for effective monitoring and surveillance of regulations, inspection of trade and data collection. The capacity building programmes create an environment for better management decisions. Informed stakeholders are in a better position to manage their resources in a community-based management system.
Regional co-operation
The Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay are the predominant regions for sea cucumber harvest and trade in India. The resources of these regions are shared between India and Sri Lanka. While there is a moratorium on collection and trade of sea cucumber in India, there is no such regulation on the Sri Lankan side. As the distance by sea between the two nations is very short, the sea cucumbers that are illegally caught in India are supposedly sent to Sri Lanka from where it finds an overseas export market. Therefore, bilateral co-operation between the two nations is essential for strengthening the conservation efforts.
Ecosystem approach to management of Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar
It is suggested that effective management of sea cucumber fishery could be achieved by following an ecosystem approach, in which multiple regulatory measures and management actions could be agreed upon and applied in a participatory manner in full consideration of the sea cucumber stocks, the ecosystems in which they live and the socio-economic systems that drive exploitation. In the ecosystem approach, it is crucial to get the commitment of governments, fishery managers and scientists to develop, apply and implement the management measures to sustain sea cucumber populations for current and future generations (Purcell, 2010). The Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar are biodiversity hotspots, with critical habitats like coral reefs, seagrass beds, seaweeds, mangrove forests and rocky coast, which also serve as home for several endangered and vulnerable species. Considering the importance of these habitats and species, it is worthwhile considering managing the entire area through ecosystem approach jointly by India and Sri Lanka.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
54
Model for sea cucumber fishery managementDue to the prevailing illegal trade, the efforts taken by the Government to achieve the goal of conservation of sea cucumber resources might be far reaching. Therefore, a more pragmatic approach would be to switch over from a ‘total ban’ to a ‘regulated fishery’ as this would help in (i) sustainable exploitation of sea cucumber resources; (ii) improve the socio-economic status of fishers who are dependent on sea cucumber for their livelihood; (iii) conservation of stock; and (iv) foreign exchange earnings. The recommended approach for sustainable uses of sea cucumber resources is given in Table 4 and the schematic representation indicating the past, present and future of sea cucumber fishery and management is given in Table 5.
Table 4. Approach for sustainable uses of sea cucumber resources
Lifting of moratorium temporarily
Define the fisheries Manage the fisheries Conservation – Long-term sustainability
1.The moratorium on collection and trade of selected species of sea cucumbers can be relaxed for 1 or 2 years, on an experimental basis.
1.Developing an understanding of relevant species groups.
1. Educating the local communities on the importance of sea cucumbers –their habitat, biology etc.
1.Stock replenishment programmes through seed production in hatcheries and ranching.
2. If the fishery is found sustainable, the government can decide on relaxing the moratorium during subsequent years, through close monitoring of response of resources and trade.
2.Mapping the fishery grounds and find out the total extent of area.
2. Permitting fishing and trade with strict regulations like issue of licenses, catch quota and seasonal closure.
2.Identifying and implementing no-take zones and sanctuaries.
3.Retaining enough stock in the fishing ground to enhance breeding and recruitment in the wild.
3. Establishing National level Committee to coordinate and formalise management.
3.Ensuring the health of habitat.
In order to achieve the goal of sustainable fishery and conservation of sea cucumber resources in Indian waters, it is suggested to:• Strengthenthescientificinformation/knowledgebaseofdifferentseacucumber
species available in the Indian waters, particularly on their population structure and biology.
• Undertakescientificprogrammesforperiodicassessmentofseacucumberstockinthe wild. The study should be a collaborative effort of relevant scientific institutions who are involved in stock assessment studies of marine animals. The scientific
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
55
Table 5. Past, present and future of sea cucumber fishery and management
PRIOR TO THE BAN DURING THE BAN (PRESENT)
Natural resource
Natural resource
Stock assessment
Hygienic Processing
Farming
Hygienic Processing
Revival of natural stock
Hatchery seed production
Sea ranching
Community based regulated fishing/collection
(Licensed units, Minimum Legal Size for capture, Quota of harvest, Seasonal closure, No-take zones)
Standardization of hatchery
techniques for seed production
MPEDA records the export
Real beneficiaries are benefitted
Twin goals of sea cucumber fisheries sustainable use and conservation can be achieved
Natural resource
Illegal fishing
Fishing (Harvest)
Clandestine trade
Processing
Real beneficiaries are
not benefitedExport trade
FUTURE
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
56
information on stock, generated by research Institutions should be made available to the Government agencies for logical decision-making.
• LiftthemoratoriumonselectedspeciesofseacucumbersbytheMinistryofEnvironment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, initially for a period of one or two years, on an experimental basis.
• ConstituteaNationalCommitteebythegovernmentcomprisingofscientists,officersof the Forest Department and Fisheries Department and fishermen representatives for developing a framework for sea cucumber fishery management. The Committee would also coordinate with the scientific institutions for translation of research output to principles of scientific management.
• Haveatotallyregulatedseacucumbercollectionandtrade,strictlyfollowingallthe guidelines/regulatory measures laid down by the National Committee in the management guidelines.
• Carryoutstrictmonitoringandsurveillanceoffisheryandtrade,particularlywithregard to the quantity of each species of sea cucumber harvested by individuals or groups, size that is caught and the quantity that is traded.
• Undertakehatchery-basedseedproductionprogrammesforsearanching,toreplenish the natural stock of sea cucumber.
• Involvethelocalcommunitiesineverystageofplanninganddecisionmakingprocess.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
57
References
Agudo, N. 2006. Sandfish Hatchery Techniques. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the World Fish Centre Noumea, New Caledonia, 43 p.
Ahmed, M.I. and Lawrence, A.J. 2007. The status of commercial sea cucumbers from Egypt’s northern Red Sea Coast. SPC Beche de mer Information Bulletin, 26: 14–18.
Ajith, K. and Dissanayake, D. C. T. 2015. Preliminary study on broodstock rearing, induced breeding and grow-out culture of the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra in Sri Lanka. Aquaculture Research, 1–12.
Akamine, J. 2004. The status of the sea cucumber fisheries and trade in Japan. In: Lovatelli, A., Conand, C., Purcell, S., Uthicke, S., Hamel, J.F. and Mercier A. (Eds.), Advances in Sea Cucumber Aquaculture and Management. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper FAO, Rome, 463: 39–47.
Alfonso, I. 2006. National Report – Cuba. In: Bruckner, A.W. (Eds.). Proceedings of the CITES workshop on the conservation of sea cucumbers in the families Holothuriidae and Stichopodidae. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFSOPR Silver Spring, MD, 34: 244 p.
Allee, W.C. 1938. The social life of animals. WW Norton & Company, INC.
Andrew, N.L., Be´ne´, C., Hall, S., Allison, E., Heck, S. and Ratner, B. 2007. Diagnosis and management of small scale fisheries in developing countries. Fish and Fisheries, 8, 227–240.
Asha, P.S. 2004. Effect of feed concentration on larval growth, survival and development of Holothuria (Theelothuria) spinifera Theel. Journal of Marine Biological Association of India, 46:80–86.
Asha, P.S. 2005. Reproductive aspects, larval and juvenile rearing of Holothuria (Theelothuria) spinifera Theel. PhD Thesis Manonmaniam Sundaranar University,Tamil Nadu, India, 120 p.
Asha, P.S. 2015. Sea cucumber resources of Tuticoin, Gulf of Mannar, Southeast coast of India. Regional seminar on Current Status and future Prospects of Coastal and Marine Biodiversity in Gulf of Mannar organized by Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust Ramanathapuram, Book of Abstract, 15 p.
Asha, P.S. and Diwakar, K. 2006. Seasonal exploitation of the sea cucumber Stichopus hermanni (Semper) at Tuticorin. Marine Fisheries Information Service, Technical and Information Series, 189 : 17 – 19.
Asha, P.S. and Diwakar, K. 2013. Effect of stocking density on hatching rate, larval and early juvenile rearing of edible sea cucumber Holothuria scabra Jaeger. Indian Journal of Marine Science, 42(2):191–195.
Asha, P.S. and Muthiah, P. 2002. Spawning and larval rearing of sea cucumber: Holothuria (Theelothuria) spinifera Theel. SPC Beche de mer Information Bulletin, 16:11–15.
Asha, P.S. and Muthiah, P. 2005. Effect of temperature, salinity and pH on the larval growth, survival and development of the commercial sea cucumber Holothuria spinifera Theel. Aquaculture, 250:823–829.
Asha, P.S. and Muthiah, P. 2006. Effect of single and combined microalgae on the larval growth, survival and development of the commercial sea cucumber Holothuria spinifera Theel. Aquaculture Research, 37:113–118.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
58
Asha, P.S. and Muthiah, P. 2007. Growth of the hatchery produced juveniles of the sea cucumber Holothuria spinifera Theel. Aquaculture Research, 38:1082–1088.
Asha, P.S. and Muthiah, P. 2008. Reproductive biology of the commercial sea cucumber Holothuria spinifera. Theel. Aquaculture International, 16 (3) : 231 – 242.
Asha, P.S., Rajagopalan, M. and Diwakar, K. 2007. Stock enhancement of sea cucumbers – a solution for the depletion of natural stocks of Holothuria scabra along Gulf of Mannar. Marine Fisheries Information Service, Technical and Information Series, 193 : 7 -10.
Asha, P.S., Rajagopal, M. and Diwakar, K. 2011. Influence of salinity on hatching rate, larval and early juvenile rearing of commercial sea cucumber Holothuria scabra Jaeger. Journal of Marine Biological Association India, 53(2):218–224.
Babcock, R., Mundy, C.N., Keesing, J. and Oliver, J. 1992. Predictable and unpredictable spawning events: in situ behavioural data from free-spawning coral reef invertebrates. Invertebrate Reproduction & Development, 22, 213–227.
Baskar, B.K. 1993. Studies on the biology, ecology and fishery of the sea cucumber Holothuria (Metriatyla) scabra (Jaeger) from south east coast of India . Ph.D. thesis, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute. Submitted to Cochin University of Science and Technology, 116p.
Battaglene, S.C. 1999. Culture of tropical sea cucumbers for stock restoration and enhancement. Naga, The ICLARM Quarterly, 22: 4 - 10.
Battaglene, S.C. and Bell, J.D. 2004. The restocking of sea cucumbers in the Pacific Islands. In: Bartley, D.M. and Leber, K.L. (Eds.), Case Studies in Marine Ranching. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper, 429: 109-132.
Bell, J.D., Agudo, N.N., Purcell, S.W., Blazer, P., Simutoga, M. Pham, D. and Della Patrona, L. 2007. Grow-out of sand fish Holothuria scabra in ponds shows that co-culture with shrimp Litopenaeus stylirostris is not viable. Aquaculture, 273: 509–519.
Bell, J.D., Purcell, S.W. and Nash, W.J. 2008.Restoring small scale fisheries for tropical sea cucumbers. Ocean and Coastal Management, 51: 589–593.
Berkes, F., Mahon, R., McConney, P., Richard Pollnac and Robert Pomeroy. 2001. Managing Small-Scale Fisheries:Alternative Directions and Methods. IDRC (International Development Research Centre), Ottawa. 320p.
Birkeland, C. 1989. The influence of echinoderms on coral-reef communities. In: Jangoux, M. and Lawrence, J.M. (Eds.) Echinoderm Studies 3, volume 3. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1–79 p.
Birkeland, C., Rowley, D. and Randall, R. H. 1982. Coral recruitment patterns at Guam. Proceeding of 4th Internaional Coral Reef Symposium, Manila, 2: 339-344 .
BOBLME. 2015. Sea cucumber conservation in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar – India. BOBLME-2015- Ecology -54.
Bordbar, S., Anwar, F. and Saari, N. 2011. High-value components and bioactives from sea cucumbers for functional foods-A review. Marine Drugs, 9 (10) : 1761-1805.
Bruckner, A.W. 2005. The recent status of sea cucumber fisheries in the continental United States of America. SPC Beche de mer Information Bulletin, 22: 39–46.
Chellaram, C., Deepak, V. and Patterson Edward, J.K. 2003. Status of echinoderm fishery in the Gulf of Mannar South east coast of India. SDMRI Research Publication, 3: 173–176.
Chen, J. 2003. Overview of sea cucumber farming and sea ranching practices in China. SPC Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin, 18: 18–23.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
59
Choo, P.S. 2008. Population status, fisheries and trade of sea cucumbers in Asia. In: Toral-Granda, V., Lovatelli, A. and Vasconcellos, M. (Eds.), Sea cucumbers. A global review of fisheries and trade. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, FAO, Rome, 516: 81–118.
Clark, A.M. 1976. Echinoderms of Coral Reefs. In : Jones, O. A. and Endean R. E. (Eds.) Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs. Academic Press, New York. 3 (2): 95 -123.
Conand, C. 1981. Sexual cycle of three commercially important Holothurian species (Echinodermata) from the lagoon of New Caledonia. Bull.Mar.Sci., 31: 523-543.
Conand, C. 1990. The fishery resources of Pacific island countries. Part 2: Holothurians. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper, Rome, 272.2: 143 p.
Conand, C. 1991. Long-term movements and mortality of some tropical sea-cucumbers monitored by tagging and recapture. In: Yanagisawa, T., Yasumasu, I., Oguro, C., Suzuki, N. and Motokawa T. (Eds.) Proceedings of the Seventh International Echinoderm Conference. Balkema, Rotterdam, 169–175 p.
Conand, C. 1993. Reproductive biology of the holothurians from the major communities of the New Caledonian lagoon. Marine Biology, 116: 439–450.
Conand, C. 2001. Overview of sea cucumber fisheries over the last decade – What possibilities for a durable management? Barker (Eds.), Echinoderms, 339-344 p.
Conand, C. 2004. Present status of world sea cucumber resources and utilization: an international overview. In: Lovatelli, A., Conand, C., Purcell, S., Uthicke, S., Hamel, J.F., and Mercier, A. (Eds.) Advances in sea cucumber aquaculture and management, Fisheries Technical Paper FAO, Rome, 463: 13-24.
Conand, C. 2006a. Sea cucumber biology, taxonomy, distribution and conservation status. In: Bruckner, A.W. (Ed.) Proceedings of the CITES workshop on the conservation of sea cucumbers in the families Holothuriidae and Stichopodidae. NOAA Technical Memorandum USA, NMFS-OPR,- 34: 33–50.
Conand, C. 2006b. Harvest and trade: utilization of sea cucumbers; sea cucumber fisheries; current international trade; illegal, unreported and unregulated trade; bycatch; socio-economic characteristics of the trade in sea cucumbers. In: Bruckner A. W. (ed.). Proceedings of the CITES Workshop on the conservation of sea cucumbers in the families Holothuriidae and Stichopodidae. NOAA Technical Memorandum USA. NMFS-OPR-34: 51–73.
Conand, C. 2008. Population status, fisheries and trade of sea cucumbers in Africa and the Indian Ocean. In: Toral Granda, V., Lovatelli, A. and Vasconcellos, M. (Eds.), Sea cucumbers A global review of fisheries and trade. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, FAO, Rome, 516: 143-193.
Conand, C. and Byrne, M. 1993. A review of recent developments in the world sea cucumber fisheries. Marine Fisheries Review, 55: 1–13.
Conand, C. and Sloan, N.A. 1989. World fisheries for echinoderms. In: Caddy, J. F. (Eds.) Marine Invertebrate Fisheries: Their Assessment and Management. Wiley Inter science Publication, John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA, p. 647–663.
Courchamp, F., Clutton-Brock, T. and Grenfell, B. 1999. Inverse density dependence and the Allee effect. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 14: 405–410.
Dacles, T.P. 2007. Sagay Marine Reserve, Sagay City, Negros Occidental. Paper presented at the National Forum on Sea Cucumber Fisheries Management. Dagupan, Pangasinan, Philippines. June 6–9.
Dance, S.K., Lane, I. and Bell, J.D. 2003. Variation in short-term survival of cultured sandfish (Holothuria scabra) released in mangrove-seagrass and coral reef flat habitats in Solomon Islands. Aquaculture, 220: 495–505.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
60
Daniel, A. and Haldar, B. P. 1974. Holothuroidea of the Indian Ocean with remarks on their distribution. Journal of Marine Biological Association of India, 16 (2) : 412-436.
Dissanayake, D. C. T. and Wijayarathne M.J.S. 2007. Studies on the sea cucumber fishery in the North Western Coastal region of Sri Lanka. Journal of Aquatic Science, 12: 19-37.
Dissanayake, D. C. T. and Stefansson, G. 2010. Abundance and distribution of commercial sea cucumber species in the coastal waters of Sri Lanka. Aquatic Living Resource, 23: 303–313.
D’Silva, D. 2001. The Torres Strait ‘beche-de-mer’ (sea cucumber) fishery. SPC Beche de mer Information Bulletin, 15: 2–4.
Duy, N.D.Q. 2012. Large scale sandfish production from pond culture in Vietnam. In Hair, C.A., Pickering, T.D. and Mils, D.J. (Eds.) Asia-Pacific tropical sea cucumber aquaculture’, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. Canberra. ACIAR Proceedings, 136: 34-39.
Ess, C. 2007. North Pacific Sea Cucumber, stable, high-quality product, demand bode well for sea cucumber divers. Market reports. (also available at www.nationalfisherman.com/month).
Eriksson, H. and Clarke, S. 2015. Chinese market responses to overexploitation of sharks and sea cucumbers. Biological Conservation, 184: 163–173
Eriksson, H., Conand, C., Lovatelli, A., Muthiga, A. and Purcell, S.W. 2015. Governance structures and sustainability in Indian Ocean sea cucumber fisheries. Marine Policy, 56: 16–22.
Eriksson, H., Robinson, G., Matthew, J., Slater, M.J. and Troell, M. 2011. Sea Cucumber Aquaculture in the Western Indian Ocean: challenges for sustainable livelihood and stock improvement. Ambio, 41:109-121.
Evans, L., Cherrett, N. and Pemsl, D. 2011. Assessing the impact of fisheries co-management interventions in developing countries:ameta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Management, 92: 1938-1949.
FAO. 1995. Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 49p.
FAO. 2003. Fisheries management. 2. The ecosystem approach to fisheries. FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries. FAO, Rome, 4 (2):112. http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4470e/y4470e00.htm.
FAO. 2010. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Rome.
FAO. 2012. Report on the FAO workshop on sea cucumber fisheries: an ecosystem approach to management in the Indian Ocean (SCEAM Indian Ocean), Mazizini, Zanzibar, the United Republic of Tanzania, 12–16 November. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Report, 1038: 92 p.
Fairbairn, T.I.J. 1992. Marine Property Rights in Relation to Giant Clam Mariculture in the Kingdom of Tonga. In: Tisdell, C. (Eds.). Giant Clams in the Sustainable Development ofthe South Pacific. Canberra: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; ACIAR Monograph, 18: 119–133.
Ferdouse, F. 2004. World markets and trade flows of sea cucumber/beche-de-mer. (FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 463). In: Lovatelli, A., Conand, C., Purcell, S., Uthicke, S., Hamel, J.F. and Mercier, A., (Eds.). Advances in sea cucumber aquaculture and management. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, p. 101–117.
Francour, P. 1997. Predation on holothurians: a literature review. Invertebrate Biology, 116: 52–60.
Friedman, K. and Chapman, L. 2008a. A Regional Approach to Invertebrate Export Fisheries. Secretariat of the Pacific Community Policy Brief 2/2008. Noumea, New Caledonia.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
61
Friedman, K., Kronen, K., Pinca, S., Magron, F., Boblin, P., Pakoa, K., Awiva, R. and Chapman, L. 2008b. Papua New Guinea country report: profiles and results from surveywork at Andra, Tsoilaunung, Sideia, and Panapompom. Appendix 1. Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea, 435 p.
Friedman, K., Ropeti, E. and A. Tafileichig. 2008c. Development of a management plan for Yap’s sea cucumber fishery. SPC Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin, 28: 7–13.
Friedman, K., Eriksson H., Tardy E. and Pakoa, K. 2011. Management of sea cucumber stocks: Patterns of vulnerability and recovery of sea cucumber stocks impacted by fishing. Fish and Fisheries, 12: 75–93.
Gamboa, R.U., Aurelio, R.A., Ganad, D.A., Concepcion, L.B. and Abreo, N.A.S. 2012. Small –scale hatcheries and simple technologies for sandfish (Holothuria scabra) production. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. Canberra. In: Hair, C.A., Pickering, T.D. and Mils, D.J. (Eds.). Asia-Pacific Tropical Sea cucumber Aquaculture. ACIAR Proceedings, 136: 34-39.
Hair, C. 2012. Sandfish (Holothuria scabra) production and sea-ranching trial in Fiji. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra. In: Hair, C.A., Pickering, T.D and Mills, D.J. (Eds.), Asia–Pacific Tropical Sea Cucumber Aquaculture. ACIAR Proceedings, 136: 129–141.
Hair, C., Mills, D.J., McIntyre, R. and Southgate, P.C. 2016. Optimising methods for community-based sea cucumber ranching. Experimental releases of cultured juvenile Holothuria scabra in to seagrass meadows in Papua New Guinea. Aquaculture Reports, 3 :198–208.
Hamel, J.F. and Mercier, A. 1998. Diet and feeding behaviour of the sea cucumber Cucumaria frondosa in the St. Lawrence Estuary, eastern Canada. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 76: 1194–1198.
Han Qxi Keesing, J.K. and Liu, D. 2016. A review of sea cucumber aquaculture, ranching and stock enhancement in China. Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture, 24: 326-341.
Hill, H.B. 1978. The Use of Nearshore Marine Life as a Food Resource by American Samoans. Honolulu: Pacific Islands Program, University of Hawaii; Miscellaneous Work Papers, p.165.
Hornell, J. 1917. Indian beche-de-mer industry: its history and recent revival. Madras Fisheries Bulletin, 11(4): 119-150.
Hyman, L.H. 1955. The Invertebrates, Vol.4, Echinodermata. Mc Graw-Hill Book Co, New 763 pp.
IUCN (International Union for Consrvation of Nature). 2013. Guidelines for using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Version 10.Prepared by the Standards and Petitions.
Imai, T. and Inaba, D. 1950. On the artificial breeding of Japanese sea-cucumber, Stichopus japonicus Selenka. Bulletin of the Institute of Agricultural Research Tohoku University, 2.
Ito, S. and Kitamura, H. 1997. Induction of larval metamorphosis in the sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus by periphitic diatoms. Hydrobiologia, 358: 281–284.
James, D.B. 1967. Phyllophorus (phyllophorella) parvipedes Cark (Holothuroidea), a new record to the Indian seas. Journal of Marine Biological Association of India, 7 : 325-327.
James, D.B. 1968. Studies on Indian Echinoderms-2. The holothurian Stolus buccalis (Stimpson) with notes on its systematic position. Journal of Marine Biological Association of India, 8 (2) : 285-289.
James, D.B. 1973. Beche-de-mer resources of India. Proceedings of Symposium Living Resources of the seas around India. CMFRI, p. 706-711.
James, D.B. 1978. Studies on the systematics of some shallow water Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea and Holothuroidea of the Indian Seas. Ph.D. Thesis, Andhra University.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
62
James, D.B. 1982. Ecology of intertidal echinoderms of the Indian Seas. Journal of Marine Biological Association of India, 24 (1 & 2) : 124- 129.
James, D.B. 1986a. Quality improvement in beche-de-mer. Seafood Export Journal, 18 (3) : 5-10.
James, D.B. 1986b. The holothurian resources. R&D. Series for marine fishery resources and management, CMFRI, 4 p.
James, D.B. 1986c. Zoogeography of shallow water echinoderms of Indian Seas. In: James P.S.B.R. (Ed.). Recent Advances in Marine Biology. Today and Tomorrow Printers and Publishers, New Delhi, p. 569-591.
James, D.B. 1988. Boring and fouling echinoderms of Indian waters. In: Marine Deteroration. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., p. 227-238.
James, D.B. 1989a. Beche-de-mer. Its resources, fishery and industry. Marine Fisheries Information Service, Technical and Information Series, 92: 35p.
James, D.B. 1989b. Echinoderms of Lakshadweep and their zoogeography. CMFRI Bulletin, 43 : 97-144.
James, D.B. 1992. Actinopyga miliaris (Quoy &Gaimard), A new resource of sea cucumber discovered off Tuticorin. CMFRI News letter, Jan.-Mar, 4 p.
James, D.B. 1994a. Holothurian resources from India and their exploitation. In : Rengarjan, K. and James D. B. (Eds.). Proceedings of the National Workshop on ‘Beche-de-mer’. CMFRI Bulletin, 46 : 27 – 31.
James, D.B. 1994b. Processing, quality control and utilization of Beche-de-mer: Improved methods of processing holothurians for ‘Beche-de-mer’. In : Rengarjan, K.and James, D. B. (Eds.) Proceedings of the National Workshop on Beche-de-mer. CMFRI Bulletin, 46 : 71 – 75.
James, D.B. 1995a. Taxonomic studies on the species of Holothuria (Linnaeus, 1767) from the seas around India. Part 1. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 92 (1): 13-62.
James, D.B. 1995b. Taxonomic studies on the species of Holothuria (Linnaeus, 1767) from the seas around India. Part 2. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 92: 190-204.
James, D.B. 1996. Conservation of sea cucumbers. In Menon, N.G. and Pillai, C.S.G. (Eds.) Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Management, 80-88.
James, D.B. and. Badrudeen, M. 1995. Deep-water red fish a new resource for the Indian beche-de-mer industry. Marine Fisheries Information Service, Technical and Information Series, 137: 6 – 8.
James, D.B. and Baskar, B.K. 1994a. Present status of the beche-de-mer industry in Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar CMFRI Bulletin, 46: 85-90.
James, D.B. and James, P.S.B.R. 1994. A handbook on Indian sea cucumber. CMFRI Special Publication, Cochin, 59: 48p.
James, D.B., Asha, P.S, Ram Mohan, M.K. and Jaiganesh, P. 1999. Culture of sea cucumbers in Shrimp farms- a take off in technology . In: National Seminar on Development and Transfer of Fisheries Technology. Organised by the Fisheries College and Research Institute, Tuticorin. p : 5 -7.
James, D.B, Gandhi, A.D., Palaniswamy, N. and Rodrigo, J.X. 1994. Hatchery techniques and culture of the sea-cucumber Holothuria scabra, CMFRI Special Publication, 57: 1-40.
James, D.B., Lordson, A.J., Ivy, W.G. and Gamdhi, A.D. 1996. Experimental rearing of the juveniles of Holothuria scabra Jaeger produced in the hatchery. In: (Eds.) Samuel Paulraj, Proceeding of Symposium on Aquaculture for 2000 AD, 207-214 p.
James, D.B., Rajapandian, M.E., Baskar, B.K. and Gopinathan, C.P. 1988. Successful induced spawning and rearing of the Holothurian Holothuria (Metriatyla) scabra Jaeger at Tuticorin. Marine Fisheries Information
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
63
Service, Technical and Information Series, 87: 30–33.
Juinio-Meñez, M.A., De Peralta, G.M., Dumalan, R.J.P., Edullantes, C.M. and Catbagan, T.O. 2012a. Ocean nursery systems for scaling up juvenile sandfish (Holothuria scabra) production: ensuring opportunities for small fishers. In: Hair, C.A., Pickering, T.D., and Mills, D.J. (Eds.), Asia–Pacific Tropical Sea Cucumber Aquaculture. ACIAR Proceedings, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, 136: 57–62.
Juinio-Meñez, M.A., Paña, M.A., De Peralta, G.M., Olavides, R.D., Catbagan, T.O., Edullantes, C.M. and Rodriguez, B.D. 2012b. Establishment and management of communal sandfish (Holothuria scabra) sea ranching in the Philippines. In: Hair, C.A., Pickering, T.D., Mills, D.J. (Eds.), Asia–Pacific Tropical Sea Cucumber Aquaculture. ACIAR Proceedings, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, 136: 121–127.
Jones, O.A. and Endean, R. 1973. The biology and ecology of tropical holothurians, vol. ii, biology i. In: Jones O.A. and Endean R. (Eds.). Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs Academic Press, New York, p. 325–367.
Kandan, S. 1994. Studies on sea cucumbers of Minicoy, Lakshadweep. Ph.D. Thesis, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute. Submitted to Cochin University of Science and Technology 291p.
Kinch, J., Purcell, S., Uthicke, S. and Friedman, K. 2008. Population status, fisheries and trade of sea cucumbers in the Western Pacific. In: Toral Granda, V., Lovatelli, A. and Vasconellos, M. (Eds.), Sea cucumbers: a global review on fisheries and trade. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, FAO, Rome, 516: 57 77.
Labe, L.L. 2009. Sea cucumber fisheries, utilization and trade in the Philippines. In: Proceedings of the ASEANSEAFDEC Regional Experts Meeting on Sea Cucumber Fisheries Bangkok, Thailand, 18–20 March. SEAFDEC/ Secretariat, 68–94 p.
Lawrence, A.J., Ahmed, M., Hanafy, M., Gbr, H., Ibrahim, A. and Gab-Alla, A.A.F.A. 2004. Status of the sea cucumber fishery in the Red Sea – The Egyptian experience. In: Lovatelli, A., Conand, C, Purcell, S., Uthicke, S., Hamel, J. F. and Mercier, A. (Eds). Advance in sea cucumber aquaculture and management. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 463: 79–88.
Lebel, L., Anderies, J.M and Campbell, B. 2006. Governance and the capacity to manage resilience in regional social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society, 11: 19 [online] http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/ vol11/iss1/art19/.
Massin, C. 1982. Effects of feeding on the environment: Holothuroidea. In: Jangoux, M. and Lawrence, J.M. (Eds.) Echinoderm Nutrition. AA Balkema, Rotterdam, p. 493– 497.
Mercier, A., Battaglene, S.C. and Hamel, J.F. 2000. Settlement preferences and early migration of the tropical sea cucumber Holothuria scabra. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 249: 89 110.
Mercier, A. and Hamel, J.F. 2008. Precautionary management of Cucumaria frondosa in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. In: Toral-Granda V., Lovatelli,A and Vasconcellos,M. (Eds.) Sea cucumbers: a global review on fisheries and trade. Rome, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, 516: 293–306.
Mercier, A. and Hamel, J.F. 2009. Endogenous and exogenous control of gametogenesis and spawning in echinoderms. Advances in Marine Biology, 55: 1–302.
Mercier, A., Hidalgo, R.Y. and Hamel. J.F. 2004. Aquaculture of the Galápagos seacucumber, Isostichopus fuscus. In: Lovatelli, A., Conand, C., Purcell, S., Uthicke, S., Hamel, J.F. and Mercier, A. (Eds.). Advances in sea cucumber aquaculture and management, FAO, Rome. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, 463: 347–58.
Mills, D., Duy, N., Juinio-Menez, M., Raison, C. and Zarate, J. 2012. Overview of sea cucumber aquaculture and sea-ranching research in the South-East Asian region, In: Hair, C.A., Pickering, T.D. and Mills, D.J. ACIAR Proceedings, 136: 22-31.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
64
Morgan, A. and Archer. J. 1999. Overview: Aspects of sea cucumber industry research and development in South Pacific , SPC Beche de mer Information Bulletin, 12:15-17.
Mottet, M.G. 1976. The Fishery Biology and Market Preparation of sea cucumbers. Washington, Department of Fishery Technical Report, 22: 57.
Muthiga, N., Ochiewo, J. and Kawaka, J. 2010. Strengthening capacity to sustainably manage sea cucumber fisheries in the western Indian Ocean. SPC Beche de mer Information Bulletin, 30: 3-9.
Nagase, H., Enjyoji, K., Minamiguchi, K., Kitazato, K.T., Kitazato, K., Saito, H. and Kato, H. 1995. Depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycan with novel anticoagulant actions: Antithrombin III-and heparin cofactor II-independent inhibition of factor X activation by factor IXa-factor VIIIa complex and heparin cofactor II-dependent inhibition of thrombin. Blood, 85:1527–1534.
Nelson, W.G. 1981. Experimental studies of decapod and fish predation on seagrass macrobenthos. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 5: 141–149.
Parulekar, A. H. 1981. Marine fauna of Malvan, Central West Coast of India. Mahasagar, 14 : 33-44.
Pitt, R., and Duy, N.D.O. 2004. Breeding and rearing of the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra in Vietnam. In: Lovatelli, A., Conand, C., Purcell, S.W., Uthicke, S., Hamel, J.F. and Mercier, A. (Eds.) Advances in sea cucumber aquaculture and management, FAO Fsheries Technical Paper, Rome, 333–346.
Pitt, R., Duy, N.D.Q., Duy, T.V., Long, H.T.C. 2004. Sandfish (Holothuria scabra) with shrimp (Penaeus monodon) co-culture tank trials. SPC Beche de mer Information Bulletin, 20: 12–22.
Purcell, S.W. 2004a. Criteria for release strategies and evaluating the restocking of sea cucumbers. In: Lovatelli A., Conand C., Purcell S., Uthicke S., Hamel J.F. and A. Mercier (Eds). Advances in sea cucumber aquaculture and management. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper.No. 463. FAO, Rome. p. 181–191.
Purcell, S.W. 2004b. Rapid growth and bioturbation activity of the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra in earthen ponds. Proceedings of Australasian Aquaculture, 1: 244.
Purcell, S.W. 2010. Managing sea cucumber fisheries with an ecosystem approach. In: Lovatelli, A., Vasconcellos, M. and Yimin, Y. (Eds.). FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, Rome, FAO, 520: 157p.
Purcell, S.W., Gossuin, H. and Agudo, N.N. 2009. Status and Management of the Sea Cucumber Fishery of la Grande Terre, New Caledonia. The World Fish Center, Penang, Malaysia, Programme ZoNe´Co. World Fish Center Studies and Reviews, 1901: 138 p.
Purcell, S.W. and Kirby, D.S. 2006. Restocking the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra: sizing no-takezones through individual-based movement modelling. Fisheries Research, 80: 53–61.
Purcell, S.W. and Simutoga, M. 2008. Spatio-temporal and size-dependent variation in the success of releasing cultured sea cucumbers in the wild. Reviews in Fisheries Science, 16: 204–214.
Purcell, S.W., Blockmans, B.F. and Nash, W.J. 2006. Efficacy of chemical markers and physical tags for large-scale release of an exploited holothurian. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 334: 283–293.
Purcell, S.W., Hair, C.A and Mills, D.J. 2012. Sea cucumber culture, farming and searanching in the tropics: progress, problems and opportunities. Aquaculture, 368–369: 68–81.
Purcell, S.W., Mercier, A., Conand, C., Hamel, J.F., Toral-Granda, V., Lovatelli, A. and Uthicke, S. 2013. Sea cucumbers fisheries: Global analysis of stocks, management measures and drivers of over fishing, Fish and Fisheries, 14: 34-59.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
65
Purcell, S.W., Patrois, J. and Fraisse, N. 2006. Experimental evaluation of co-culture of juvenile sea cucumbers, Holothuria scabra (Jaeger), with juvenile blue shrimp, Litopenaeus stylirostris (Stimpson). Aquaculture Research, 37: 515–522.
Raison, C.M. 2008. Advances in sea cucumber aquaculture and prospects for commercial culture of Holothuria scabra. CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 3 (82): 1–15.
Ram Mohan, M. K. 2001. Annual reproductive cycle of sea cucumber Holothuria (Halodeima) atra Jaeger (Holothuroidea : Aspidochirota) at Tuticorin, Southeast coast of India. Ph.D. Thesis, submitted to Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Versova, 111p.
Rao, D.S., James, D.B., Pillai, C.S.G., Thomas, P.A., Appukuttan, K.K., Girijavallabhan, K.G., Gopinathan, C.P., Muthuswamy, S. and Najmuddin, M. 1991. Bioactive compounds from marine organisms,. Oxford and IBH Publication Co. Pvt. Ltd., 367-371 p.
Robinson, G. 2013. A bright future for sandfish aquaculture. World Aquaculture, 18-24.
Robinson, G. and Lovatelli, A. 2015. Global sea cucumber fisheries and aquaculture FAO’s inputs over the past few years. FAO Aquaculture Newsletter, 53: 55-57.
Robinson, G. and Pascal, B. 2012. Sea cucumber farming experiences in south-western Madagaskar. In: Hair, C.A., Pickering, T.D. and Mills, D.J.(Eds.) Asia-Pacific Tropical Sea cucumber Aquaculture, ACIAR Proceedings, 36: 142-155.
Roginsky, A., Singh, B., Ding Xz, Collin, P., Woodward, C., Talamonti, M.S., Bell and R.H., Adrian, T.E. 2004. Frondanol(R)-A5p from the sea cucumber, Cucumaria frondosa induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. Pancreas, 29: 335.
Sastry, D.R.K. 1998. Faunal diversity in India, In: Alfred, J.R.B., Das, A.K. and Sanyal, A.K. (Eds.). A commemorative volume in the 50th year of India’s Independence, Zoological Survey of India, 308-403.
Shelley, C. 1985. Growth of Actinopyga echinites and Holothuria scabra (Holothuroidea: Echinodermata) and their fisheries potential (as beche-de-mer) in Papua New Guinea. Proceedings on Fifth International Coral Reef Congress, Tahiti, 5: 297-302.
Shiell, G.R. and Knott, B. 2010. Aggregations and temporal changes in the activity and bioturbation contribution of the sea cucumber Holothuria whitmaei (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea). Marine Ecology Progress Series: 415: 127-139.
Skewes, T., Dennis, D. and Burridge, C. 2000. Survey of Holothuria scabra (Sandfish) on Warrior Reef, Torres Strait. Report to Queensland Fisheries Management Authority, Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia, 28 p.
Toral-Granda, V., Lovatelli, A. and Vasconcellos, M. 2008. Sea Cucumbers: A Global Review of Fisheries and Trade. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, FAO, Rome. 516p.
Uthicke, S. 1994. Distribution patterns and growth of two reef holothurians, Holothuria atra and Stichopus chloronotus. In: David, D., Guille, A., Feral, J.P., and Roux, M. (Eds.). Echinoderms through time. Proceedings of the Eighth International Echinoderm Conference. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 569–576p.
Uthicke, S. 1999. Sediment bioturbation and impact of feeding activity of Holothuria (Halodeima) atra and Stichopus chloronotus, two sediment feeding holothurians, at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. Bulletin of Marine Science, 64: 129–141.
Uthicke, S. 2001. Nutrient regeneration by abundant coral reef holothurians. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 265: 153–170.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
66
Uthicke, S. 2004. Over fishing of holothurians: lessons from the Great Barrier Reef. In: Lovatelli, A., Conand, C., Purcell, S., Uthicke, S., Hamel, J.F. and Mercier, A. (Eds.) Advances in Sea Cucumber Aquaculture and Management, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper, 463: 163–171.
Uthicke, S. and Benzie, J.A.H. 2000. Effect of beche-de-mer fishing on densities and size structure of Holothuria nobilis (echinodermata: Holothuroidea) populations on the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs, 19: 271–276.
Uthicke, S. and Conand, C. 2005. Local examples of beche-de-mer overfishing: an initial summary and request for information. SPC Beche de mer Information Bulletin, 21: 9–14.
Uthicke, S. and Purcell, S. 2004. Preservation of genetic diversity in restocking of the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra planned through allozyme electrophoresis. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 61: 519–528.
Uthicke, S., Schaffelke, B. and Byrne, M. 2009. A boombust phylum? Ecological and evolutionary consequences of density variations in echinoderms. Ecological Monographs, 79: 3–24.
Venkitaraman, C. 2006. Present status of population of holothurians in India. Report submitted to Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, 58 p.
Venkataraman, K., Venkitaraman, C. and Rajkumar Rajan. 2012. Status assessment of sea cucumber species in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar. Report submitted to Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust, Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, 55 p.
Vizzini, S 2009. Analysis of the trophic role of Mediterranean seagrasses in marine coastal ecosystems: a review. Botanica Marina, 52: 383–393.
Wolkenhauer, S.M., Uthicke, S., Burridge, C., Skewes, T. and Pitcher, R. 2010. The ecological role of Holothuria scabra (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) within subtropical seagrass beds. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 90: 215–223.
Yanagisawa, T. 1998. Aspects of the biology and culture of the sea cucumber. In: De Silva, S. (Ed.). Tropical Mariculture, London: Academic Press. 291–308 p.
Zhang, L. Q. and Liu. Y. H. 1998. Aquaculture techniques of sea cucumber and sea urchin. Qingdao: The Press of Ocean University of Qingdao (in Chinese).
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
67
CMFRI Publications on sea cucumbers
Pamplets,Bulletin and Special Publications
CMFRI- Special Publications and Information Services
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
68
Coun
try
Spec
ies
cultu
red
Annu
al
prod
uctio
n of
1
g ju
veni
les
Use
of ju
veni
les
Year
of o
pera
tion
&Pre
sent
Sta
tus
Aust
ralia
(Nor
ther
n Te
rrito
ry)
Holo
thur
ia sc
abra
62,0
00Se
a ra
nchi
ng; p
ond
farm
ing
2004
-ong
oing
Aust
ralia
(Que
ensla
nd)
H. sc
abra
500,
000
Sea
ranc
hing
2003
-200
9-Ni
lAu
stra
lia (Q
ueen
sland
) H.
less
oni
330,
000
Sea
ranc
hing
2004
-200
9-Ni
lAu
stra
lia (Q
ueen
sland
)H.
scab
ra10
00Ex
perim
enta
l20
04-2
007-
Nil
Cana
daPa
rasti
chop
us ca
lifor
nicu
sn/
aPo
nd fa
rmin
g20
09-o
ngoi
ngCh
ina
Apos
ticho
pus j
apon
icus
>6
billio
nSe
a ra
nchi
ng; p
ond
farm
ing
1990
-ong
oing
Ecua
dor
Isosti
chop
us fu
scus
n/a
Expe
rimen
tal
2002
-200
8Fij
i H.
scab
ra50
0Ex
perim
enta
l20
08-2
010
FSM
(Poh
npei
)H.
scab
ra10
,000
Expe
rimen
tal
2009
-ong
oing
FSM
(Yap
) Ac
tinop
yga
sp.
n/a
Stoc
k en
hanc
emen
t20
07- n
/a
Indi
aH.
scab
ra30
00Ex
perim
enta
l19
88-2
006
Indi
aH.
spin
ifera
n/a
Expe
rimen
tal
2001
-200
3Ira
n (B
anda
r-e L
enge
h)H.
scab
ran/
aEx
perim
enta
l20
11- n
/aJa
pan
A. ja
poni
cus
>3
milli
onSt
ock
enha
ncem
ent
1977
-ong
oing
Kirib
ati
H. fu
scog
ilva
500-
8000
Stoc
k en
hanc
emen
t19
97-2
009
Mad
agas
car
H. sc
abra
200,
000
Sea
farm
ing
(pen
s)20
07-o
ngoi
ngM
aldi
ves
H. sc
abra
5 m
illion
Sea
ranc
hing
1997
-ong
oing
Appe
ndix
-1D
etai
ls o
f ha
tche
ry p
rodu
ctio
n of
juve
nile
sea
cuc
umbe
r spe
cies
glo
bally
(n/a
= n
ot a
vaila
ble)
.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
69
Mex
ico
I. fu
scus
300,
000
Pond
farm
ing
2008
-ong
oing
Mex
ico
I. ba
dion
otus
n/a
Expe
rimen
tal
2013
- n/a
New
Cal
edon
ia
H. sc
abra
18,0
00Ex
perim
enta
l20
00-2
006
New
Cal
edon
iaH.
scab
ra45
0,00
0Se
a ra
nchi
ng; p
ond
farm
ing
2011
-ong
oing
New
Zea
land
Au
stral
ostic
hopu
s mol
lisn/
aEx
perim
enta
l20
07-o
ngoi
ngPa
lau
Actin
opyg
a m
aurit
iana
500,
000
Stoc
k en
hanc
emen
t20
09-2
011
Pala
u A.
milia
ris50
,000
Stoc
k en
hanc
emen
t20
09-2
011
Philip
pine
s (Bo
linao
) H.
scab
ra32
,000
Sea
ranc
hing
2001
-ong
oing
Philip
pine
s (M
inda
nao
)H.
scab
ra15
,000
Sea
ranc
hing
; pon
d fa
rmin
g20
09-o
ngoi
ngPh
ilippi
nes (
Bolin
ao)
Stich
opus
hor
rens
500
Expe
rimen
tal
2009
-ong
oing
Philip
pine
s (Da
gupa
n)
H. sc
abra
20,0
00Ex
perim
enta
l20
09-2
011
Philip
pine
s (Ilo
ilo)
H. sc
abra
11,0
00Ex
perim
enta
l20
10-o
ngoi
ngSa
udi A
rabi
a H.
scab
ran/
aSe
a ra
nchi
ngn/
aSo
lom
on Is
land
s H.
scab
ran/
aEx
perim
enta
l19
96-2
000
USA
(Ala
ska)
P.
calif
orni
cus
n/a
Expe
rimen
tal
2010
-ong
oing
Viet
nam
H.
scab
ra20
0,00
0Po
nd fa
rmin
g20
01-o
ngoi
ngPa
puaN
ew G
uine
aH.
scab
ran
/aSe
a fa
rmin
g (p
ens)
n/a
- ong
oing
Sri L
anka
H.
scab
ran/
aEx
perim
enta
l20
11-o
ngoi
ng
Sour
ce: P
urce
ll et
al.,
201
2; R
obin
son
and
Lova
telli,
201
5.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
70
Sl.
No
Regu
lato
ry M
easu
res
Coun
trie
s ad
opte
dEx
perie
nces
& O
utco
mes
1.Si
ze re
stric
tions
/lim
itsA
min
imum
indi
vidu
al le
ngth
or
wei
ght o
f sea
cucu
mbe
rs
that
can
be le
gally
fish
ed o
r tra
ded.
Gala
pago
s Isl
ands
(E
cuad
or)
The
man
agem
ent o
fficia
ls an
d sc
ient
ific i
nstit
utio
ns a
gree
that
size
restr
ictio
n re
gula
tion
may
no
t be
as e
ffecti
ve a
s oth
ers,
since
the
size
limit
varie
s at o
ne re
gion
from
ano
ther
for t
he
sam
e sp
ecie
s (To
ral-G
rand
a, 2
008)
.
New
Ca
ledo
nia
(Fra
nce)
The
fishe
rs ex
pres
sed
that
it is
diffi
cult
to e
nfor
ce th
esize
lim
it in
fres
h an
imal
s as i
t con
tracts
an
d ex
pand
s the
bod
y le
ngth
. How
ever,
the
proc
ess o
f con
sulta
tion
and
inte
racti
on a
bout
th
e siz
e lim
its se
ems t
o ha
ve im
prov
ed th
e ac
cept
ance
by
fishe
rs an
d pr
oces
sors
(Pur
cell,
20
04).
Yap,
Fed
eral
St
ates
of
Micr
ones
ia
Yap
has d
evelo
ped
a fis
herie
s man
agem
ent p
lan b
ased
on
regu
latin
g w
eight
rath
er th
an
size.
The
quo
ta h
as b
een
set f
or “s
tand
ard”
spec
ies g
roup
s and
“pre
miu
m” s
pecie
s gro
ups
(ship
men
ts w
ill be
mad
e an
d ch
ecke
d in
10
kilog
ram
pac
kage
s of ‘
bech
e-de
-mer
’) se
para
tely
for m
ore
com
preh
ensiv
e qu
ality
cont
rol (
Fried
man
et a
l., 20
08b)
. Thi
s par
ticul
ar m
easu
re is
ea
sy to
mon
itor.
2.Te
mpo
rary
clo
sure
s or
se
ason
al c
losu
res
A ce
ssat
ion
or p
rohi
bitio
n of
fis
hing
for a
shor
t spe
cified
tim
e pe
riod,
gen
eral
ly fo
r les
s th
an a
yea
r and
ofte
n ov
er th
e br
eedi
ng se
ason
Japa
nAs
spaw
ning
seas
on fa
lls d
urin
g sp
ring,
har
vest
ing
of se
a cu
cum
bers
in m
ost fi
sher
ies
is al
low
ed d
urin
g th
e w
inte
r and
ther
e is
a clo
sed
seas
on fo
r sev
eral
mon
ths,
star
ting
in
April
. Sem
posh
i Fish
ery
Coop
erat
ive
Asso
ciatio
n se
lf-re
gula
tes t
heir
fishe
ry se
ason
from
M
arch
1 to
Apr
il 30
and
from
June
16
to Ju
ly 20
(Aka
min
e, 2
004)
. Sel
f-reg
ulat
ion/
loca
l m
anag
emen
t mea
sure
s are
bei
ng st
rictly
follo
wed
and
foun
d to
be
very
effe
ctiv
e.
Briti
sh
Colu
mbi
a,
Cana
da
In B
ritish
Col
umbi
a, th
e an
nual
Par
astic
hopu
s cal
iforn
icus fi
sher
y la
sts f
or a
bout
thre
e w
eeks
in O
ctob
er. T
he o
pen
seas
on is
set a
t thi
s tim
e be
caus
e th
e siz
e an
d w
eigh
t of s
ea
cucu
mbe
rs a
re m
ore
in co
mpa
rison
to o
ther
seas
ons (
Mer
cier a
nd H
amel
, 200
8).
Appe
ndix
-2Re
gula
tory
mea
sure
s ad
opte
d in
diff
eren
t cou
ntrie
s, e
xper
ienc
es a
nd o
utco
mes
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
71
3.G
ear r
estr
ictio
ns/
limita
tions
A pr
ohib
ition
or l
imit
on th
e us
e of
certa
in ty
pes,
sizes
or
num
ber o
f equ
ipm
ent f
or
colle
ctin
g se
a cu
cum
bers
.
Unite
d St
ates
of
Am
erica
Due
to in
crea
se in
by-
catc
h an
d da
mag
e of
sea
beds
/sea
cucu
mbe
r the
re w
as a
confl
ict
amon
g th
e lo
cal fi
sher
s on
the
use
of “d
rag”
or b
otto
m tr
awl fi
sher
y fo
r Cuc
umar
ia
frond
osa
in M
aine
dur
ing
1988
. To
over
com
e th
is iss
ue, a
dra
gnet
for s
ea u
rchi
ns w
as
mod
ified
for c
olle
ctin
g C.
fron
dosa
. Thi
s par
ticul
ar re
gula
tion
has s
igni
fican
tly re
duce
d th
e by
-cat
ch a
nd w
ell a
ccep
ted
by th
e fis
hers
(Mer
cier a
nd H
amel
, 200
8).
New
foun
dlan
d an
d La
brad
or,
Cana
da
In N
ewfo
undl
and
and
Labr
ador,
Can
ada,
the
expl
orat
ory s
ea cu
cum
ber fi
sher
y was
initia
ted
in
2001
. Cat
ch ra
tes a
nd b
y-cat
ch w
ere
com
pare
d w
ith tw
o fis
hing
met
hods
, nam
ely La
brad
or
scall
op b
ucke
ts an
d Di
gby s
callo
p bu
cket
s. Ne
wfo
undl
and
sea
cucu
mbe
r dra
g de
sign
was
ap
prov
ed b
y Fish
eries
and
Oce
ans C
anad
a (D
FO) s
ince
the
resu
lts o
f the
stud
y was
pos
itive.
This
gear
was
also
use
d fo
r scie
ntific
surv
ey in
esti
mat
ion
of p
opul
atio
n ab
unda
nce
and
distr
ibut
ion.
Th
is ex
ampl
e sh
ows t
hat fi
shin
g ge
ars c
an b
e de
velo
ped
and
regu
lated
in co
oper
atio
n w
ith th
e fis
hery
man
agem
ent a
genc
y and
use
d in
pop
ulat
ion
studi
es (M
ercie
r and
Ham
el, 2
008)
.
New
Ca
ledo
nia
(Fra
nce)
Thou
gh th
e pr
ohib
ition
of t
raw
lers
is re
com
men
ded,
it is
diffi
cult
to e
nfor
ce b
y co
mpl
ianc
e of
ficer
s at i
ncon
veni
ent t
imes
or l
ocat
ions
. Hen
ce a
s of n
ow th
ere
are
no p
rohi
bitio
ns o
n ge
ars l
ike d
rags
, dre
dges
or t
raw
l net
s,alth
ough
thes
e ar
e no
t yet
in u
se (P
urce
ll, 2
004)
.
Seyc
helle
s and
M
adag
asca
r (W
este
rn
Indi
an O
cean
)
In S
eych
elle
s, fis
hers
need
to b
e tra
ined
in S
CUBA
divi
ng, w
here
as in
Mad
agas
car t
he u
se o
f SC
UBA
is le
gally
pro
hibi
ted.
Enf
orce
men
t, co
mm
unica
tion
and,
in so
me
case
s, tra
inin
g, a
re
need
ed to
ens
ure
that
fish
ery
com
ply
with
gea
r res
tricti
ons,
like
the
use
of S
CUBA
(Con
and,
20
08).
4.Ef
fort
and
cap
acity
con
trol
Capa
city c
ontro
ls se
ek to
restr
ict
the
tota
l size
of t
he fl
eet,
whi
le
effo
rt co
ntro
ls se
ek to
restr
ict th
e fis
hing
acti
vity (
FAO,
200
3).
Gala
pago
s Isl
ands
(E
cuad
or)
Acco
rdin
g to
the
Gala
pago
s Spe
cial L
aw e
nact
ed in
199
8, o
nly
smal
l-sca
le fi
sher
s may
ta
ke p
art i
n fis
hing
act
iviti
es w
ithin
the
Gala
pago
s Mar
ine
Rese
rve
(GM
R). M
axim
um
beam
leng
th fo
r mot
her b
oats
is re
stric
ted
to 1
8 m
. The
num
ber o
f fish
ers h
as b
een
regu
late
d by
mea
ns o
f a m
orat
oriu
m (e
ffect
ive
as o
n 31
Mar
ch 2
003)
whi
ch a
llow
s onl
y so
ns a
nd d
augh
ters
of a
ctiv
e fis
hers
to b
ecom
e ne
w re
gist
ered
fish
ers o
f the
GM
R (To
ral-
Gran
da, 2
008)
. Thi
s mea
sure
can
be im
plem
ente
d in
sim
ilar s
ocio
-eco
nom
ic, e
colo
gica
l m
arin
e re
serv
e ar
ea e
lsew
here
in th
e w
orld
.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
72
Pacifi
c, M
elan
esia
Vanu
atu’
s cus
tom
ary
fishi
ng co
ntro
ls - l
ocal
man
agem
ent s
yste
ms,
Mal
ekul
a Isl
and
(com
mun
ities
on
the
Mas
kelyn
es g
roup
of i
sland
s). T
he co
llect
ion
of Tr
ochu
s, in
indi
vidu
al
reef
, cam
e un
der t
he co
ntro
l of f
amily
gro
ups,
and
high
val
ue se
a cu
cum
bers
such
as
sand
fish
, Hol
othu
ria sc
abra
wer
e pr
otec
ted
by h
arve
stin
g ta
bu’s,
eve
n clo
se to
the
villa
ge
fore
front
that
was
acc
esse
d by
the
who
le co
mm
unity
. Thi
s sto
ck w
as p
rote
cted
from
fis
hing
and
hel
ped
in re
cove
ring
of th
ose
reso
urce
s. Re
stric
ting
the
num
ber o
f fish
ers
and
capa
city
cont
rol i
s effe
ctiv
e in
pro
tect
ing
the
sea
cucu
mbe
r bre
edin
g gr
ound
s and
to
mai
ntai
n th
eir p
opul
atio
n on
reef
are
as (F
riedm
an e
t al.,
200
8a).
5.Ca
tch
Quo
tas
A ca
tch
limit
set f
or a
pa
rticu
lar s
ea cu
cum
ber
fishe
ry, g
ener
ally
for a
yea
r or
a fis
hing
seas
on. Q
uota
s, al
so
calle
d “t
otal
allo
wab
le ca
tch”
(T
AC),
are
usua
lly e
xpre
ssed
in
tonn
es o
f liv
e-w
eigh
t eq
uiva
lent
, but
are
som
etim
es
set i
n te
rms o
f num
bers
of
indi
vidu
al a
nim
als.
Japa
nTh
e Se
mpo
shi F
isher
y Co
oper
ativ
e As
socia
tion
set a
n an
nual
quo
ta o
f 50
t (se
ason
al
quot
as o
f 30
t in
sprin
g an
d 20
t in
sum
mer
). Fis
hing
is p
rohi
bite
d fo
r the
rest
of t
he o
pen
seas
on a
s soo
n as
the
annu
al q
uota
of 5
0 t i
s rea
ched
by
all fi
sher
s (Ak
amin
e, 2
004)
.
Briti
sh
Colu
mbi
a,
Cana
da
Para
stich
opus
calif
orni
cus i
s mai
ntai
ned
in a
n ar
ea co
mpr
ising
abo
ut 2
5 pe
rcen
t of t
he
Briti
sh C
olum
bia
coas
tline
(exis
ting
arbi
trary
quo
ta o
f233
t). A
noth
er 2
5 pe
rcen
t of t
he
coas
t is d
edica
ted
to e
xper
imen
tal fi
shin
g, a
nd th
e re
mai
ning
hal
f is c
lose
d un
til th
e bi
olog
y of
the
spec
ies i
s wel
l und
erst
ood
(Mer
cier e
t al.,
200
4).
Aust
ralia
The
sea
cucu
mbe
r fish
ery
on th
e Gr
eat B
arrie
r Ree
f (GB
R) in
200
4 fix
ed th
e To
tal
Allo
wab
le C
atch
(TAC
) as 3
80 to
nnes
(127
t of
whi
te te
atfis
h, z
ero
catc
hes o
f bla
ck te
at
fish
and
253
t for
all
othe
r spe
cies).
In a
dditi
on, t
he fi
sher
s in
the
indu
stry
agr
eed
on
spec
ies-
spec
ific l
imit
refe
renc
e po
ints
(san
dfish
, 15
t; go
lden
sand
fish,
10
t; pr
ickly
redfi
sh,
40 ‘t
; sur
f red
fish,
25
t; an
d de
ep w
ater
redfi
sh, 2
5 t)’
(Uth
icke,
200
4).
6.M
arke
t cha
in li
cens
ing
and
repo
rtin
gRe
quire
men
ts im
pose
d on
fis
hers
, pro
cess
ors a
nd tr
ader
s to
dec
lare
and
repo
rt on
thei
r ac
tiviti
es w
ithin
the
fishe
ry.
Gala
pago
s Isl
ands
(E
cuad
or)
The
Gala
pago
s Mar
ine
Rese
rve
(GM
R) h
as a
Fish
ery
Mon
itorin
g Pr
ogra
mm
e(FM
P), i
n w
hich
info
rmat
ion
is co
llect
ed o
n fis
hing
site
s, fis
hing
effo
rt, to
tal c
atch
and
fish
ing
met
hods
thro
ugho
ut th
e m
arke
t cha
in. T
he ch
ain
star
ts in
the
GMR
fishi
ng si
te a
nd e
nds
with
the
expo
rter i
n m
ainl
and
Ecua
dor.
By th
e Sp
ecia
l Law
of G
alap
agos
, fish
ers a
re
oblig
ed to
pro
vide
all
the
requ
ired
info
rmat
ion
to th
e FM
P (To
ral-G
rand
a, 2
008)
.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
73
Cuba
All fi
shin
g ac
tiviti
es fo
r Iso
stich
opus
bad
iono
tus a
re co
ntro
lled
and
mon
itore
d st
rictly
from
la
ndin
g to
exp
ort.
Ther
e is
one
expo
rting
com
pany
aut
horiz
ed in
Cub
a (N
ENEK
A C.
A.)
whi
ch sh
ips “
Clas
s A” p
rodu
ct to
Chi
na, H
ong
Kong
Spe
cial A
dmin
istra
tive
Regi
on, a
nd
“Cla
ss B
” pro
duct
to C
hina
or t
he R
epub
lic o
f Kor
ea. T
he im
pact
of t
his m
easu
re is
till
date
, the
re h
as n
ot b
een
any
illega
l shi
pmen
t det
ecte
d (A
lfons
o, 2
006)
.
New
Ca
ledo
nia
Licen
sing
syst
em is
follo
wed
in b
oth
the
North
ern
and
Sout
hern
Pro
vinc
es o
f New
Ca
ledo
nia.
On
pers
onal
visi
t by
fishe
r to
fishe
ry se
rvice
, eve
ry y
ear t
hey
have
to
rene
w th
eirli
cenc
e at
a n
omin
al fe
e. In
this
proc
ess,t
hey
mus
t also
app
ly fo
r a sp
ecia
l “C
once
ssio
n” to
har
vest
sea
cucu
mbe
rs. T
he li
cens
ing
syst
em m
onito
rs th
e fis
hers
an
d pr
ovid
es u
pdat
ed in
form
atio
n on
new
fish
ery
regu
latio
ns. T
he lo
g sh
eets
are
also
pr
ovid
ed to
the
fishe
rs in
ord
er to
reco
rd th
e se
a cu
cum
ber c
atch
(bot
h in
term
s of
num
bers
and
wei
ghts
) (Pu
rcel
l et a
l.,20
09).
Fiji
Fishe
rs co
llect
and
sell
prod
uct (
fishe
rs in
the
wes
tern
lago
on o
f Van
ua L
evu
and
the
Lau
Grou
p ca
tch
and
proc
ess s
ea cu
cum
bers
into
drie
d pr
oduc
t). A
loca
l/isla
nd m
iddl
eman
pa
sses
it to
regi
onal
age
nts a
nd to
nat
iona
l age
nt/ c
apita
l.Thi
s mar
ket c
hain
has
chan
ged
som
ewha
t in
rece
nt y
ears
. Fish
ers c
olle
ct se
a cu
cum
bers
and
tran
spor
t dire
ctly
to th
e re
gion
al ce
ntre
s for
pro
cess
ing.
In a
dditi
on, s
ome
mar
ine
agen
ts a
lso b
uy fr
esh
sea
cucu
mbe
rs fr
om in
depe
nden
t fish
ers a
nd p
roce
ss th
em. T
he ro
le o
f mid
dlem
en h
as b
een
com
plet
ely
elim
inat
ed b
y w
hich
fish
ers c
an g
et re
ason
able
cons
umer
shar
e (F
riedm
an e
t al
., 20
08a)
.
Seyc
helle
s and
M
adag
asca
r (W
este
rn
Indi
an O
cean
)
The
licen
sing
and
mon
itorin
g of
sea
cucu
mbe
r cat
ch a
nd tr
ade
in S
eych
elle
s is c
ondu
cted
at
3 le
vels:
har
vest
ing,
pro
cess
ing
and
expo
rt. T
he st
atus
of s
ea cu
cum
ber r
esou
rces
is
asse
ssed
bas
ed o
n th
e co
llect
ed ca
tch
and
effo
rt da
ta. H
ence
the
licen
sing
and
mon
itorin
g m
easu
re is
succ
essfu
lly im
plem
ente
d. W
here
as in
Mad
agas
car,
mon
itorin
g an
d co
ntro
ls ha
ve b
een
diffi
cult
to im
plem
ent (
Cona
nd, 2
008)
.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
74
7.Ro
tatio
nal h
arve
st c
losu
res
A pe
riodi
c tem
pora
l and
sp
atia
l shi
fting
of fi
shin
g ef
fort,
in a
syst
emat
ic w
ay
amon
g de
mar
cate
d fis
hing
gr
ound
s.
Alas
ka,U
nite
d St
ates
of
Amer
ica
Curre
nt se
a cu
cum
ber m
anag
emen
t mea
sure
s in
Alas
ka, u
sing
rota
tiona
l har
vest
st
rate
gies
, hav
e pr
ovid
ed su
stai
nabl
e ha
rves
ts a
nd co
nsist
ent q
ualit
y of
Par
astic
hopu
s ca
lifor
nicu
s. Di
vers
rota
te th
eir e
ffort
betw
een
16 h
arve
st a
reas
, thr
ough
out t
he fi
shin
g gr
ound
s (Es
s, 20
07).
In so
uthe
ast A
lask
a, e
ach
fishi
ng a
rea
oper
ates
on
a th
ree
year
ro
tatio
n an
d is
harv
este
d at
a ra
te o
f 6 p
erce
nt p
er y
ear (
Mer
cier e
t al.,
200
4).
Philip
pine
s (S
agay
Isla
nds)
The
prac
tice
of ro
tatio
nal c
losu
re a
nd h
arve
st h
as in
crea
sed
the
awar
enes
s am
ong
the
com
mun
ity a
bout
sust
aina
ble
fishi
ng o
f the
sea
cucu
mbe
r res
ourc
es (D
acle
s, 20
07;
Gam
boa
et a
l., 2
007)
.
Grea
t Bar
rier
Reef
, Aus
tralia
As th
e ro
tatio
nal s
ecto
rs a
re re
lativ
ely
larg
e, fi
sher
s can
not e
asily
dep
lete
the
reso
urce
w
ithin
eac
h se
ctor
dur
ing
the
year
of r
otat
ion.
Mor
eove
r the
pro
cess
of a
lloca
ting
plot
s an
d re
achi
ng a
gree
men
t am
ong
fishe
rs is
eas
y (U
thick
e an
d Pu
rcel
l, 20
04).
8.
Mar
ine
Prot
ecte
d Ar
eas
No
take
zon
esA
mar
ine
prot
ecte
d ar
ea (M
PA)
is a
porti
on o
f the
mar
ine
bent
hos a
nd w
ater,
with
its
asso
ciate
d bi
ota,
rese
rved
to
pro
tect
part,
or a
ll, of
the
enclo
sed
envir
onm
ent (
Kelle
her,
1999
). “N
o-ta
ke zo
nes”
(NTZ
s) or
“fu
lly-p
rote
cted
mar
ine
rese
rves
” are
a sp
ecia
l cla
ss
of M
PA, w
hich
pro
hibi
t any
ex
tract
ive
activ
ities
such
as
fishi
ng. M
PAs a
nd N
o-ta
ke
zone
s are
one
type
of s
patia
l clo
sure
.
Mal
aysia
The
syst
em o
f nat
iona
l mar
ine
park
s and
fish
ery
zoni
ng re
gula
tions
in P
enin
sula
r Mal
aysia
ha
ve m
et w
ith so
me
succ
esse
s and
Mal
aysia
’s Na
tiona
l Cor
al R
eef M
anag
emen
t effo
rts
are
som
e of
the
mos
t suc
cess
ful i
n So
uthe
ast A
sia.In
ord
er to
redu
ce co
nflict
s and
ov
erfis
hing
, diff
eren
t use
r gro
ups w
ere
sepa
rate
d to
diff
eren
t fish
ing
zone
(Cho
o, 2
008)
.
New
Ca
ledo
nia
(Fra
nce)
Alth
ough
long
-term
rese
rves
in N
ew C
aled
onia
tend
ed to
hav
e gr
eate
r sea
cucu
mbe
r po
pula
tions
than
rese
rves
est
ablis
hed
rece
ntly,
they
did
not
alw
ays l
ead
to a
hug
e bu
ild-
up o
f sea
cucu
mbe
r bre
edin
g po
pula
tions
(Pur
cell
et a
l.,20
09).
Solo
mon
Isl
ands
Arna
von
Islan
d M
arin
e Re
serv
e (A
IMR)
afte
r the
dec
lara
tion
of co
nser
vatio
n ar
ea sh
owed
th
at th
e tim
e ne
eded
for a
spec
ies t
o re
cove
r fro
m h
arve
stin
g m
ight
be
long
er th
an
expe
cted
. The
impo
rtant
fact
ors f
or sp
ecie
s rec
over
y is
gene
ratio
n tim
e, se
verit
y an
d ex
tent
of p
revi
ous fi
shin
g, lo
cal o
cean
ogra
phic
feat
ures
, loc
atio
n an
d siz
e of
the
rese
rve,
in
fring
emen
t of t
he re
serv
e an
d av
aila
bilit
y of
nur
sery
and
adu
lt ha
bita
t (Ki
nch
et a
l.,
2008
).
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
75
9.Te
rrito
rial u
ser r
ight
s in
fis
herie
sTh
e pr
ovisi
on to
certa
in u
sers
, e.
g. fi
sher
s or s
ea ra
nchi
ng
prop
onen
ts, o
f exc
lusiv
e pr
ivile
ge to
exp
loit
certa
in
reso
urce
s and
/or a
cces
s cer
tain
ar
eas o
f sea
bed.
Japa
nOn
ly lo
cal fi
sher
y co
oper
ativ
e as
socia
tions
are
elig
ible
for t
he fi
sher
y rig
ht. T
hus,
no o
ne
exce
pt th
e fis
hery
coop
erat
ive
asso
ciatio
n m
embe
rs ca
n co
llect
sea
cucu
mbe
rs fo
r any
pu
rpos
es. T
his m
easu
re re
stric
ts o
nly
few
fish
ers t
o be
invo
lved
in th
e se
a cu
cum
ber
fishe
ry (A
kam
ine,
200
4).
Aust
ralia
In th
e st
ate
of Q
ueen
sland
, acc
ess t
o co
mm
ercia
l fish
ing
of se
a cu
cum
ber fi
sher
y on
the
Grea
t Bar
rier R
eef (
divi
ded
in to
154
fishi
ng z
ones
of a
ppro
ximat
ely
100
to 1
50 n
autic
al
squa
re m
iles)
is lim
ited
to ju
st 1
8 lic
ense
s (Ut
hick
e, 2
004)
.
The
Philip
pine
sFis
hing
com
mun
ities
at s
ever
al o
f the
pro
ject
’s sit
es g
ener
ally
have
de-
fact
o rig
hts o
ver
the
adja
cent
shal
low
seab
eds.
But p
oach
ing
and
the
tem
ptat
ion
to h
arve
st sm
all s
ea
cucu
mbe
rs a
re p
oten
tial p
robl
ems t
hat n
eed
to b
e re
solv
ed b
y fo
rmal
acc
ess r
ight
s. Th
e co
mm
uniti
es a
pply
for p
erm
its fr
om th
e lo
cal m
unici
pal g
over
nmen
t and
villa
ge co
uncil
to h
ave
exclu
sive
acce
ss to
insh
ore
plot
s (5-
10 h
a) fo
r sea
ranc
hing
. The
gra
ntin
g of
ac
cess
righ
ts re
quire
s pub
lic co
nsul
tatio
ns o
n pr
opos
ed se
a ra
nchi
ng, i
mpl
emen
tatio
n m
echa
nism
s and
arra
ngem
ents
inclu
ding
shar
ing
of co
sts (
e.g.
labo
ur, g
uard
ing
of a
rea)
an
d be
nefit
s (i.e
. har
vest
and
acc
ess r
ight
s) (P
urce
ll an
d Ki
rby,
2006
)
Pacifi
c, Po
lynes
iaAm
erica
n Sa
moa
ns co
ntin
ued
to cl
aim e
xclu
sive
fishi
ng ri
ghts
to th
eir a
djac
ent r
eefs
(Hill,
19
78).
Simila
rly, i
n ne
ighb
orin
g Sa
moa
(for
mer
ly W
este
rn S
amoa
), th
e re
ef a
nd la
goon
are
as
are
owne
d by
the
Stat
e, b
ut cu
stom
ary o
wne
rship
by t
he v
illage
of l
ocal
fishi
ng ri
ghts
is re
cogn
ized
and
rem
ains fi
rmly
entre
nche
d (Fa
irbair
n, 1
992)
. Des
pite
thes
e co
ntro
ls, o
verfi
shin
g ha
s also
occ
urre
d in
Sam
oa, e
spec
ially
in u
rban
and
pop
ulat
ed a
reas
, eve
n w
ith cu
stom
ary
owne
rship
in p
lace
(Fried
man
et a
l., 20
08a)
.
Mad
agas
car
The
tradi
tiona
l fish
ery
has e
xpan
ded
in th
e la
st d
ecad
es, h
owev
er d
ue to
lack
of w
ell-
defin
ed a
cces
s rig
hts,
confl
icts w
ere
raise
d w
ith lo
cal c
omm
uniti
es a
nd le
d to
hea
vy
depl
etio
n of
wild
stoc
ks (C
onan
d, 2
008)
.
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
76
The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, Director, ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) Kochi for his constant encouragement and unwavering support in bringing out this document. The support and facilities provided by Dr. P. P. Manojkumar, Dr. P. K. Asokan and Dr. A. K. Abdul Nazar, Scientists In Charge-Tuticorin, Calicut Research and Mandapam Regional Centres of ICAR-CMFRI respectively, while preparing this document is also gratefully acknowledged. Some information has been used from the report of the project supported by the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) and executed by the ICAR-CMFRI. Special thanks are due to the BOBLME for sharing the information.
Acknowledgements
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in India
77
Fig.1. Trend in the export of ‘beche-de-mer’ from India during 1963 to 1987 (Source: MPEDA).
Fig. 2. Percent export of ‘beche-de-mer’ < 3’’ size from India (Source: MPEDA).
Fig. 3. Trend in the export of ‘beche-de-mer’ from India during 1995-96 to 2002-03 (Source:MPEDA).
Fig.4. Brood stock of holothurians (a. Holothuria scabra, b. H. spinifera).
Fig.5. Developmental stages of Holothuria spinifera (a. Fertilized egg, b. Gastrula, c. Early auricularia, d. Late auricularia, e. Doliolaria, f. Pentactula ).
Fig.6. Juveniles of Holothuria scabra (a.one month old, b.120 days old) and H. spinifera (c.85 days old and d. 120 days old).
List of figures
Table 1. Reported density (nos.ha-1; mean± SE) of sea cucumbers.
Table 2. Average market price for processed sea cucumbers (1US$=Rs.68/- approximately).
Table 3. Time after fertilization and mean size for different developmental stages of H. scabra and H. spinifera in laboratory condition.
Table 4. Approach for sustainable uses of sea cucumber resources.
Table 5. Past, present and future of sea cucumber fishery and management.
Appendix 1. Details of hatchery production of juvenile sea cucumber species globally (n/a = not available).
Appendix 2. Regulatory measures adopted in different countries, experiences and outcomes.
List of tables
CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
78
AIMR Arnavon Island Marine Reserve
B1,B2,B3 B vitamin complex
BOBLME Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem
CIBA Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture
CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
CMFRI Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute
DD Data Deficient
DFO Fisheries and Oceans Canada
EN Endangered
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation
FMP Fishery Monitoring Programme
GBR Great Barrier Reef
GMR Galapagos Marine Reserve
GOM Gulf of Mannar
GOMBRT Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve Trust
HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus
ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research
IMTA Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture
IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature
MLS Minimum Legal Size
MPA Marine Protected Area
MPEDA Marine Products Export Development Authority
NTZs No Take Zones
PB Palk Bay
pH Potential Hydrogen
RAS Recirculation Aquaculture Systems
SCUBA Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
SEAFDEC-AQD Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center/Aquaculture Department
TAC Total Allowable Catch
VU Vulnerable
ZSI Zoological Survey of India
Acronyms
This book is an outcome of the extensive research work carried
out by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute
(ICAR-CMFRI) in the last five decades and the project on sea
cucumbers implemented by the ICAR-CMFRI with financial
support from the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem
(BOBLME) project in 2015. It is aimed to propose guidelines and
principles for effective conservation measures ensuring the long-
term sustainability of sea cucumber resources in this region.
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in Indiasuggestions and way forward
Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchCentral Marine Fisheries Research InstitutePost Box No.1603, Ernakulam North P.O., Kochi-682 018, Kerala, India.Phone: +91 484 2394357, 2394867 Fax: +91 484 2394909E-mail: contact@cmfri.org.in www.cmfri.org.in
Co
nse
rva
tio
n a
nd
su
sta
ina
ble
use
of
sea
cu
cum
be
r re
sou
rce
s in
In
dia
Conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources in Indiasuggestions and way forward
ISSN 2394-8019CMFRI Marine Fisheries Policy Series No. 7
Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchCentral Marine Fisheries Research Institute
Asha P. S, K. Vinod, L. Ranjith, B. Johnson and E. Vivekanandan